Danganronpa MV 2: Heart of the Soul
by Otterplay
Summary: This is the second installment of my DR series that I'm trying to do. A new cast is force to go through a killing game. Please note that the first one was simply in the Danganronpa category, and not the full Japanese one. (Also, honestly, it wasn't that good) You're free to read it, but. It's not required till the very end, as this story won't spoil it for a long time.
1. Prologue

_I can't believe this. Someone like me? Attending a school like this? I never even dreamed of something like this, because I didn't even think it was in my realm of belief. But, the heavens decided to smile upon me the day I received the letter; I was accepted into Hope's Peak Academy. I had heard of such a place existing, but I never thought someone like me would be accepted. I didn't have a talent either! Until I read the letter, and was happy to realize they acknowledge my work as one with exceptionalism. Oh? You must be asking about myself. My name is Gregory Sait. And my talent? Well, I'm the Ultimate Priest. Apparently I'm the first Ultimate Priest, which feels great. However, I wish more people were recognized as I was for what I do. Although it must have to do with me being the youngest priest to date. Well, enough wasting time, let's head in!_

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_But it's never that easy… Everything, went blank. It went blank rather quickly. All the things I once knew started to twist in my mind. Like I had forgotten them. But, they were still there. I just couldn't reach out to them. The light had faded away from those memories…_

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_And then I awoke._

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The room in which I awoke in was, questionable to be woken up in. It seemed like a cafeteria. But, strange. I don't remember going on. Nor do I remember falling asleep. I got up from the chair and walked over to the window. Although I couldn't see much. They were covered by a seemingly thick black sheet. I looked over at the menu at the edge of the cafeteria. Maybe the type of food that was there could tell me where I was. "Wait what?" The prices were way too high for any cafeteria I've been in. I should probably get outside quick! I ran over to the doors and tried opening them. They seemed stuck, put I didn't let that stop me. Who would I be if I gave up the moment hardships happened. With another push, the door moved ever so slightly. One more should do it. I pushed one last time. And, the moment I saw it all, a lot of things came rushing back to me, all at once.

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Earlier…

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I was rushing to class because it was almost time. I don't know why, but I fell asleep outside the principal's office and no one woke me up! And no one is in the hallway, which further emphasis how late I am. Soon, my class was within reach. Without even thinking I quickly opened the door and was met by the looks of my peers.

The one who looked the oldest let out a sigh. "Well, that should be everyone. I was worried that not everyone would show up." She had blonde hair with pink streaks in them.

Some guys with a neon coloured suit looked at me. "What's this? Classes never have more than sixteen people. This is some weird thing."

Some snide little boy with orange hair took one look at me. "I would make a joke, but he seems like a joke." He looked around for laughter, but none came. Good.

"Not cool man." The boy in the neon suit shook his head.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, it's what I do for a living. Give me a break."

Some boy with a little more extravagant wear looked at the little jokester. "And I juggle for a living, you don't see me doing it right now."

"I don't think the opinion of a juggler really matters" The guy countered.

A girl with a larger than her hoodie, spoke up. "I don't mean to, interject, but I find it rather strange that I saw no one on my way here. I just awoke at some place in the school."

A girl right beside her, with a pink and red shirt, nodded. "Yes, the same thing occurred for me."

A boy, leaning against the wall, finally looked up at everyone. He wore a black and red scarf. "It would seem we are all in the same predicament."

A girl wearing a marigold skirt glanced over at the person with the scarf. "If they start freaking ou-"

"This can't be a coincidence!" Some girl with emerald hair started to say out loud.

The girl with the marigold skirt glared at the boy with the scarf.

I honestly had no idea what was going on with everyone. I surveyed the room, noticing a girl with red eyes staring at me intently, like she was trying to figure out who I was. After a few more seconds of staring, she finally smiled softly.

"Everyone, calm down!" Some guy with a purple hoodie said. "This is probably just an introductory class."

The girl with the pink hair streaks looked around nervously, something told me she knew more than she was letting on.

A girl who was wearing what seemed to be a guitar case, albeit smaller, on her back spoke up. "Alright, this is all good and all, but why was no one in the hallway?"

"Why isn't it obvious, class started, you dunce!" The orange haired boy spoke up again.

The girl didn't seem to appreciate that, but she refrained from speaking further.

"That is no way to act to such a civil question." Another boy spoke up. He wore a mostly blue uniform, and even had a blue hat of sorts. On closer, it looked like-

"I did not give permission to the law to speak." The orange haired kid grinned.

"Tch!" Was all he could respond.

Some girl who was off sitting on her own finally stood up. "Alright, kid, I didn't want to say anything, but you are pretty fucking annoying." No one could see her eyes, since she was wearing sunglasses. "So why don't you shut your fucking mouth!"

"Guys, I honestly don't think we have the time to be arguing…" A boy with what looked like a white lab coat said. "This isn't a usual circumstance. So I think that should be discussed first…"

"Yeah! I agree!" The guy in the neon suit said. "Let's go back to the topic of us all waking up here!"

"I agree…" The girl with the pink streaks said. "As soon as I walked into the school, I blanked out.

"Yeah, it's pretty clear that this occurred to all of us." The guy with the purple hoodie started to think.

"This whole thing seems like something right out of a movie." The last guy who hadn't spoken yet, finally spoken. He wore a long black coat cape. He looked around the room at everyone else. "There doesn't seem much we can do at the moment but wait for who ever is causing this."

The girl with emerald hair pondered what he said. "Who is causing this?"

"Well, I assume this isn't some kind of ceremony…" He continued on, looking away. "I would have heard something about that being a thing." He looked back at everyone else. "As would you all."

"Exactly…" The girl with the pink streaks said. "I don't remember hearing anything about this. So this is highly unnatural"

This whole ordeal was unnatural, for all of us to suddenly pass out like that? Something had to be afoot here. But the question was, what was it?

The boy with orange hair smirked as he crossed his arms. "You seem pretty confident with that remark." He had his hands behind his head.

The boy with the neon suit spoke up again. "No, I haven't heard of it either. So it's kinda weird."

"Oooo~ Another one with strong confidence!" He smirked. "But oh well."

The girl with the pink and red shirt shook her head. "I do not know what your goal is, but I do not like it."

The boy with the purple hoodie crossed his arms. "We shouldn't worry about him right now."

I once again surveyed the room I was in, trying to inspect everyone individually. I had noticed the girl with the red eyes still hadn't spoken yet. She seemed to prefer watching everyone else talk. Was she not good at talking.

While thinking, I hadn't realized that all the voices had faded away. I could not hear anyone anymore. When I turned to look at everyone, no sound came out of their mouths. Confused on what was going on, I took a step forward, and then, reality shattered, much like a mirror.

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Now, I was standing outside of the building that I woke up in. The surrounding area looked cheerful, but it was quiet, which made the whole scene eerie. I've only ever been at a place like this when it was full of life. So, to see it like this, was, disturbing.

"Is this… an amusement park?" I asked myself, I could clearly see a rollercoaster a little ways away.

"Oh, looks like you are finally up." A familiar voice said.

I turned to look at who said it, and was greeted with a girl. She has emerald hair, and sapphire eyes. She wore a vintage sundress, covered in morning glory flowers, which were blue flowers. The rest of the dress itself was ruby coloured, fading to white near the bottom. She was about the same height as me. I just kinda stared for a bit, mostly out of shock. I wasn't expecting one of the people from earlier to also be here. "Huh…"

She tilted her head slightly. "You must be confused, well, we all are."

"All are?" I repeated. Were the others here.

"Yeah, the others are here as well." Oh.

I took a glance around the area one more time. There was no denying, this was an amusement park of sorts. "Where is everyone else?" I finally asked

"Hmm? Oh, they are off introducing themselves to the others. I've already talked to everyone." She said.

"Everyone but me, huh?"

She nodded. "Speaking of which, I should introduce myself. I'm **Katrine Pagsusugal**. But please don't mention my last name. As for my talent, I'm the **Ultimate Lucky Student!**" She smiled softly at me.

An Ultimate Lucky Student, huh? I heard that their talent was surreal, and there had been several amazing people with that talent. To actually be picked out of nowhere like that, you must have amazing luck. "As for me, I'm no one special. I'm Gregory Sait, the Ultimate Priest."

She tilted her head again. "No one special? The Ultimate Priest sounds really special! Although I, myself, aren't religious, I still see the value religion holds to people. And I do something feels like my luck is from something greater. But even then, it's a blessing and a curse."

"A blessing, and a curse?" I repeated.

She shook her head slightly. "Oh, don't mind me. You should go on and meet the others!"

"Well, that's a problem… I don't know where everyone is." I told her.

"Hmm…" She brought a finger to her lip to start thinking. "Well, I guess I can go with you." She smiled softly. "They all went this way." She started heading off without waiting for me.

Now that I wasn't talking to someone, my mind started racing to why we were all possible here. What was being planned?

"Hey, are you coming or what?" She called out from the distance.

"Oh! Yeah!" I quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of my head and followed her. For now I should get to know everyone.

Soon, we arrived to what appeared to be the center area of the amusement park. I could barely make out other areas out, which seemed to be themed. However, they were behind a wall, so it would be pointless to attempt to go there. At the central area, there appeared to be four people standing around. The first one that caught was a girl. Her clothes aren't anything too complicated. A typical white buttoned up shirt, with small vertical marigold stripes. The shirt cuffs are also the same type of marigold. She also wears a long skirt that once again, shares the same marigold as the shirt does. She wears a pink bow in her hair on the right side. Her hair is also tied in a nice bun. Her hair is blonde, and her eyes, caramel coloured. She was about an inch shorter than I was. She caught my attention first because she seemed mildly annoyed by everything going on around her.

She glanced over at me, glaring slightly. "What do you want?"

Despite how she dressed, she had an intimidating demeanor. "Huh! Sorry, I was just going around introducing myself" I tried to defend myself, I did not want to get on her bad side. "I'm Gregory." I told her, that was all she needed to know really.

"What a weird name." She shook her head. "As for me, I'm **Talia Wayward**, and in case you weren't able to get it based on how I dress. I'm the **Ultimate Waitress**." Now that I took a better look, she did look like a waitress. Which would explain the hair tied in a bun like that.

Katrine smiled softly at me. "Don't worry, she won't hurt you." Are you sure?

"I might." Talia smirked. Great. "Although this isn't really me, at my best. Being here is kinda annoying. And I haven't seen any adults here either. So, sorry if I seem a little rude."

"No adults? Are you serious?" I asked her.

"Yeah, no one else wanted to do it, so I went and checked around. Bunch of lazy assholes…" She crossed her arms.

Katrine decided to interject. "I don't think everyone here is lazy."

"Not everyone, but some are." She smirked, but mostly to herself. "Well, either way, you should go talk to the others if you are raring for introductions."

"Ah, I wouldn't say I was raring for i-" But she had already moved onto other things.

The next person after Talia who caught my attention, was a guy. He wore a long black cape coat. Like what a detective would wear, although he didn't look like one. His shirt inside was white, but you could barely see another shirt under that one, that one was mocha. He has dark black hair that go to about his eyes. His eyes were just a regular colour of blue. He wore some black jeans and even had black boots to go with it. He was several inches taller than me. He glanced at me and flashed me a grin.

"Don't just stand there all day!" He motioned me and Katrine to come over to him. Noticing Katrine was also with me, he waved at her. "Hey Katrine, you showing him around?"

"I'm trying my best." She told him.

"Well since you are going around, I might as well introduce myself! I'm **Matthew** **Direkutā**. As for what I do, I direct a lot of movies. Which makes me the **Ultimate Director**! I've been called on several times to save a movie from the brink of failure, but besides that, I can't really do much else." He scratched the back of his head when he said that.

"Well, nice to meet you. Now, I do have a question, you said earlier we had to wait for whoever was in charge…?" I brought that up.

"Oh! That." He smiled a little. "Doesn't this seem oddly like a film set up? Seventeen teens trapped in an amusement park! So it got me thinking! What if this is just a reality show, and we don't know it?" I… highly doubt that.

"If you say so…" I replied after a few seconds of silence.

"It's fair if you don't believe it, but what else could it be?" He looked the other way. Still, I highly doubt that that's what it is. Moving on to the nex- oh! It was the silent girl from earlier. She has silver hair that had been tied into two side ponytails. Not to mention red eyes. Her outfit was a mixture between camo and a regular school girl outfit. Her skirt was mostly brown with a few patches of green. Her shirt was actually fern coloured, with a black tie. She wore a badge indicating what seemed like her rank, but since I have no knowledge of this stuff, I can't say what it is.. And to top it all off, she as a military hat on. I appeared to be two inches taller than her. She was looking off into the distance.

I walked towards her, ready to introduce myself. "Hello there, I-" Although I probably should have made my presence known beforehand.

In an instance of reflex, she made me quickly lose footing. I was expecting to land on the ground, however, her hand reached out and grabbed my arm.

"Sorry about that!" She called out, as I regained my footing.

I just remained silent as I didn't really have time to react to the whole ordeal.

"I guess those are the reflexes you mentioned." Katrine smiled at the girl.

"I-I just was not expecting it!" It looked like she felt really bad.

I shook my head, trying to get my focus straight. "No, really, it's OK."

"Are you sure?" She said sadly. If anything, it sounded like she was worried about not making friends.

"What's your name?" I mumbled out.

Her eyes kinda lit up a little bit. "I did not even tell you my name yet! I am **Nila Darabond**, I was born and raised on the battlefield, which makes me the **Ultimate Soldier**."

"Wha- Born and raised on the battlefield?" What had I just heard?

Katrine shook her head. "She told me she'd rather not talk about it, so let's leave it at that."

"Thank you, Katrine." Nila smiled softly. That just makes me more curious. But I won't pry into her life.

The last person here was a guy, and what was kinda strange was how he wasn't the first one to catch my eye. Especially with the… attire… Porcelain coloured hair with yellow eyes. His clothes are kinda pretty out there. A colourful array of patterned clothes. His current clothes has yellow, orange, red, and purple. He has a rather comical look to him, but I remember his talent being something that fits it.

"Yo!" He greeted us with curious eyes.

"Huh… hey." He seemed a little bit out there, but that was normal, especially with so many Ultimate gathered. "Aren't you the guy who mentioned he was a juggler?"

"Why yes, I'm the **Ultimate Juggler**! The name is **Jerry Foster**. Whoops, juggled the order." He smiled without a care in the world.

"What?" Juggle what?

He shook his head. "Nevermind about that. I want to talk a little about myself! Honestly, this talent is pretty worthless, but it allowed me to come to this school, so might as well become successful."

"How good are you at juggling?" I feel like juggling itself isn't a talent that would normally be accepted.

Katrine, once again, interjected. "Apparently he has been known to juggle knives and swords with ease, and without getting cut." What?

"I've also juggled guns while loading them. Almost shot myself, but didn't!" He smiled, once again, without a care in the world.

That seems rather impossible. "Huh…"

"That's about as much of a reaction I thought I'd get. I sometimes wish I had a different talent. Maybe then I would be more useful! Oh well!"

This, has been strange…

Katrine started to lead the way to a new area, which seemed like the roller coaster I saw earlier.

"Hey, did any of them seem strange to you?" I asked, just to see if I wasn't the only one.

"Well Jerry can be a little weird, but he doesn't seem to mean any harm. Mason, on the other hand…" Mason? Who's Mason?"

I wish I had never asked that question, because the next thing I knew, I was being greeted by two people fighting. There was a boy and a girl.

For the boy, he had short, messy, orange hair. He has devious iris eyes that just spell chaos. As for his clothes, they are a nice uniform, however, he wears it all messelly. His shirt isn't tucked in, and his laces are untied. He clearly doesn't care about his appearance. He appeared a few inches shorter than me.

As for the girl, this one goes all out in style. Sky blue ripped jeans, however, the ripped part does not reveal skin, instead, a layer of white. She wears pitch black sunglasses, you would think she was blind. I could barely see them, but from the angle I was looking at, you could see her orange eyes. Her hair is light blonde with a few streaks of brown in there. She was about two inches taller than me.

"Hey, why do you wear sunglasses anyways, it ruins the beauty. Not that there was much to start with" The boy asked.

The girl seemed like she had been getting annoyed over a long period of time. "Because we are outside, asshole…"

"Nuh-huh! You wore them inside too, you hoe!" He replied quicker than he should have. "Let me take them off, I bet your eyes are amazing! Just kidding" He extended a hand to reach out to remove them.

However, the hand quickly gripped his wrist. "That will be the last thing you ever do if you try it."

He started to try and break his wrist free. "Meanie!" He glanced over towards me, and his eyes lit up. "Help me! She's bullying me!"

You started it…

"Mason, leave Denise alone…" Katrine let out a sigh.

He, for some reason, seemed really offended. "Whoa! Why did you say my name? I haven't even introduced myself yet! The name is **Mason Scherz**! I'm a jokester, so you can call me the **Ultimate Comedian**!" There were a few moments of awkward silence. "Geez, do you guys not like me?"

Denise shook her head, choosing to ignore what Mason said. "As for me, I'm **Denise Chic**, I'm pretty famous around the country. Especially as the **Ultimate Designer**."

Never heard of her.

Mason, being Mason, seemingly couldn't keep his mouth shut. "An Ultimate Designer? I never would have guessed with your shitty fashion sense. Buuut, then again, anything is fashion nowadays."

This, as expected, set Denise off. "Listen here you little shit!"

"I can't if you keep yelling! You'll burst my eardrums!" What kind of excuse is that?

Denise just seemed even more annoyed. "I design clothes that millions of people wear, while, you joke for a living. What does that do?"

"I give the greatest gift of all! Smiling!" He replied.

Not once have you made someone smile here.

Soon, the roller coaster behind us started to make news, and the train stopped. On it, was a boy. He had light blonde hair that could appear white to some, but they are still blonde. His eyes were lapis coloured. He wore brown shorts. He wore a purple hoodie that he left open, which leaves his white shirt visible. He had sunglasses, but doesn't seem to actually use them. He seemed to be an inch taller.

"What were you doing on the roller coaster?" Katrine asked him, as he got off.

He turned his attention to us. "Oh? Me? Ah, I just thought it'd be fun. I haven't been on a roller coaster in years."

"Yeah…" Katrine continued. "But now isn't the time to be going on, we are trying to figure out what's going on."

"Right, right! My bad!" He took a glance over at me with curious eyes. "Who is this?"

Katrine smile softly. "This is Gregory, I'm just having him meet everyone."

He looked at what I was wearing. "You look like a priest. That's neat."

"I am a priest." I told him.

He put his hands out in defense. "Oh, I didn't mean anything bad about it. There just hasn't been one in the history of Hope's Peak Academy. So you must be very extraordinary. As for me, I'm **Jeremy Cloud**. And if you could tell, I'm the **Ultimate Surfer**.

The Ultimate Surfer? Well he certainly looks the part.

"So, did you find anything interesting?" She asked with a smile.

He put a finger to his chin. "From what I found, this seems like a normal amusement park. Nothing directly out of the ordinary, except for the fact that there are no workers. And I kinda had to get this thing running myself."

Katrine shook her head. "Try not to be reckless, OK?"

"But I'm a surfer, I'm supposed to be reckless." He replied before waving goodbye and walking away.

Katrine started to think to herself. "Hmm, I think I could show you the cottages next." She started walking off without waiting for me, so I had no other choice but to follow her to where the cottages were.

Soon, we arrived at the cottage. I saw three people, however, one of them spoke to us before I could do it myself. Admiral coloured eyes, he wears an almost full on blue police uniform. Save for his beige shirt and white gloves. His hair is a denim colour, and for the most part, not messy, but most of it is hidden under his hat, which seemed to have a diamond symbol on it. He has a sort of seriousness to his look. He wears black boots. He was several inches taller than I was. "Please state your business." He said quickly.

"Huh-" I tried to think of something, but for some reason, being talked like this put me on edge. "I-I'm just trying to get to know everyone better."

He stared at me for a few seconds before smiling. "It doesn't appear you are lying."

"Also he was with us earlier, so you don't have to worry about him." Katrine pointed out.

"I am sorry, as it is my duty to be wary of things. I might as well start with an introduction. My name is **Jared Ceartas**. I've been in training since I was thirteen. After a while, I've become known as the **Ultimate Officer**." He sure did look the part.

Katrine smiled yet again. "Don't worry about him, he's actually vastly different when he is out of uniform. I've heard about him before."

"Hey! You! Don't go around spreading such falsehoods!" He pointed at Katrine.

Yeah… this doesn't convince me. But if we have an officer here. Maybe there isn't anything we need to worry about.

The next person Katrine brought me too was a boy. He had crepe coloured hair (A type of light pink), his eyes, more of a mocha colour. He wore a long white veterinarian coat, almost covering his hands. Underneath it was an ivory coloured shirt. He also wore black jeans and some white gloves. He was about half a foot taller than I was. He seemed to gaze in the distance, so he didn't even see us approach him.

"Hey…" Katrine said to him softly.

He shook his head a little bit and looked over in our direction. "Oh, sorry. I was lost in deep thought."

This made me a little curious. "Deep thought about what?"

He pointed over to the cottages. "There's seventeen cottages here, and there's seventeen of us. I do hope we do not have to stay the night here."

Katrine frowned a little bit. "Yeah, that wouldn't be good."

Staying the night here? No, we wouldn't want that.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm **Richard Dier**. I'm not as good as a doctor, but I am the **Ultimate Veterinarian**."

"Oh!" I let out. "I've heard of you. They say you've never left an animal die on you."

Richard went silent for a few seconds. "Those rumours aren't true. Several animals have died on me, since there was no way to save them. I can't work miracles…" He look back off in the distance, seemingly back into deep thought. I think I should leave him be for the time now.

I turn to look over at the last person here, but they were already looking at us. The moment our eyes met, he glanced the other way. He wore a pretty large crimson and raven coat that looked like one could conceal many things in. His eyes were purple. Natural black hair, however, some of the streaks have been dyed red to go with the theme he was aiming for. He has long hair, however, most of it is stored in his scarf, so I couldn't tell how long his hair actually was. His scarf is crimson on the outside, raven on the scarf itself is long, it hangs halfway down his torso. There was emblem of a diamond with wings on his scarf. His facial expression is one of coldness, he doesn't appear to really care about much. It also covers most of his face, up to about his nose. Makes me wonder if we will be able to hear him talk. He carries on his back what appears to be a sniper ri- Wait what!

I must have been making a face because Katrine laughed a little bit. "Don't worry about him. He always carries that around." That doesn't make me feel better.

The boy looked back at me. "Could you stop staring?" The voice was muffled slightly from the scarf, but I could make out an accent not from here. It sounded European, but I couldn't place a location.

"S-sorry." I blurted out. He was much more intimidating than anyone I've met here, by far.

The boy let out a sigh. "No, I won't shoot you."

"Is that for simple hunting?" I asked, a little worried.

I couldn't tell if he was smirking or not because of the scarf. "I have used it for hunting animals. But do not get me wrong, I have used it on people before."

Why would you admit that? "A-"

"I also have permission to freely carry my weapon around without getting any attention from anyone." That last part was said like it was directed towards me. "If you must know, my name is **Rial Cardel**. And with Piety, I'm known as the **Ultimate Sniper**."

"Piety, is that the name of your gun, if so, doesn't that mean-" I was quickly cut off.

"Drop it." He said coldly. It looked like he didn't want to continue this conversation further.

"We should probably leave him be for now…" Katrine said. "Next, I can show you the Ferris Wheel." There's also a Ferris Wheel? Without waiting for me, yet again. She started to walk off. Soon, we arrived to the Ferris Wheel, where four people could be seen. The first one who caught my attention was a girl. She had long blonde hair that cover about half her body. The hair had somewhat of a curl to them. She had green eyes to boot, which looked really nice. Her shirt is a mixture of pink and red. She wears some very blue jeans. They are kinda ripped, but not completely. She was about a few inches taller than I was.

"Hey, Mindy." Katrine called over, waving at her.

She turned to look at us and smiled while walking over to us. "Yes?"

"I'm just showing him around." She pointed to me.

I waved at her. "Yeah… I'm Gregory, by the way."

"As for myself" She smiled before her face got a little more seriousness. "My name is **Mindy Misuto**. I'm the **Ultimate Ice Sculptor**." Oh, that's actually really neat.

"Oh, I think the church I'm at has actually bought a few ice sculptures from you." I told her.

She beamed with delight. "Really! That's awesome. I let my agent take care of the sells, so I don't really know where my art ends up." She looked rather sad about that.

"Why can't you just ask your agent then?" I suggested.

Mindy shook her head. "He doesn't give me that info when I ask, saying I should worry about my art. But I am! I'm worrying about where it goes! But if your church has received some, it must be in good hands." She had her smile again. I couldn't exactly get a read on her.

The next person I saw was, rather short. It was a small girl. She had long blonde hair, in fact, maybe too long. Her eyes were chartreuse (A type of green, stay with me). She wore a black and neon green hoodie that seemed way to long for her, they even cover most of her legs, and it looked like she isn't wearing pants at all. But that's probably only because of how low the hoodie goes to. She was looking at the Ferris Wheel.

Katrine looked over at me. "I'll go get her." I watched as Katrine walked over to the girl and tried to get her attention. This about as well as it went with Nila.

The girl screamed out of shock, as she was not expecting Katrine to walk up to her. After catching her breath, she looked really embarrassed. I walked over to see if everything was OK.

"W-why did you sneak up on me?" She whimpered lowly.

"I-I wasn't trying to-" Katrine tried to defend herself.

The girl looked down. "No, it's OK…" She glanced up and saw me. She simply looked without saying anything.

"Huh…" I said tried to get her attention.

"S-sorry!" She called out. "I'm not good with speaking to people. But huh… my name is **Veronica Terk**. And, I'm known wide as the **Ultimate Technician**."

"Ultimate Technician? Can you elaborate on that?" I asked, given that there can be multiple meanings to this.

"For shows, I work on the lights and sound." She smiled, before frowning. "I know, it's a boring and useless talent…"

"W-wait! I didn't say that at all." She was making me feel bad really quickly.

"I guess I also have some knowledge with heavy machinery, but I'd rather not, given how small I am." That shouldn't- forget it…

"It's probably better if we move on to someone else." Katrine smiled, pointing at the lone guy here. He wore a professional racer suit that fits the colour of neon green, and neon red. Add some white into his suit to mix it up a little. He didn't wear the helmet so you can see his face. He has cobalt hair, and arctic eyes. He has rather short hair that don't pass his eyes. He was probably the tallest person from the people that I've seen here.

He looked over our direction and started heading over to us. "Hey man!" He shouted out, maybe a little bit too loud. "You were the last person to walk into the classroom!"

"Y-yeah…" He was kinda intimidating, but different from the others. He just had a loud voice and a lot of energy.

"What do you think all this stuff is about? Like what's happening to us." He asked me.

"Honestly, I have no idea myself." I replied.

Katrine chimed in. "No one really has any ideas. Not even the smarter people."

"Hey wait a second! I'm smart." He shouted out.

"I didn't mean anything by that!" She tried defending herself.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Anyways, once you are done meeting everyone, I'm going to ask everyone to gather at the central area to discuss what to do. Don't be late!" He shouted.

"Wait, you didn't even introduce yourself…" I pointed out.

"Ah sh- the name is **Ashton Mertar**! And I'm known as the **Ultimate Racer**! Now hurry up and go meet everyone else!" He shouted, once again. This guy…

The last person here was a girl. She had tawny hair, and silver eyes. She wore a sort of dress that looked like she could be in something music related.. It had a nice pattern sticking out, the colour of the fabric sticking out was a gold like colour, white the non sticking out part being white. And then she wore a black skirt with it. She also had a small case on her back, but it was too small to be a guitar. Hmm… She was about an inch shorter than I was. She was humming to herself and swaying her head from side to side. It didn't appear she was listening to anything.

"Huh… hello…?" I tried to get her attention.

Realizing that I was talking to her, she turned towards me, her humming, coming to a halt. "Yes? Hello." She smiled.

"You're still humming?" Katrine asked her.

"Well yeah, music comforts me at a time like this." She said. "Although I don't seem to have my phone with me, which is disappointing…"

"Oh!" Katrine exclaimed. "I didn't even check to see if I had my phone!" She went to reach for her pockets until she realized her dress didn't have pockets, nor did she have a purse with her. "Huh…" Seems like she didn't have it. "What about you, Gregory?"

"I actually don't have a phone, period…" I said to them.

Katrine looked kinda shocked but didn't let it show too much. "So none of us have a phone? I wonder if that applies to the rest of them…"

The girl had began to hum again before she realized she was doing it again. "Oh, I should probably tell you my name. I'm **Miranda Mele**. I'm the **Ultimate Violinist**. I've played everywhere across the country…" She went silent for a minute before talking again. "Speaking of everywhere across the country, where do you think we are, exactly?"

"I haven't thought of that yet…" I started thinking to myself. I hadn't even heard of this amusement park. Also, why was it abandoned like this, yet looked so neat? It didn't really make sense, but oh well.

"Anyways, I shouldn't be wasting too much of your time." Miranda said, seemingly wanting to end the conversation. But it seemed more like she wanted to go back to humming.

Katrine started to think. "Now, all we have left is… Hmm… I wonder where she went off too." She started looking around the surrounding areas. "Well, there is one more place she could have gone." Who is _she_, anyways. While I was thinking, Katrine had walked off without me, so I had no choice but to follow her, yet again.

After checking what appeared to be a few gates, we arrived at one where a girl was standing, holding her left arm. Out of everyone, she seemed the oldest, but since we were all the same age, it was highly unlikely that she was actually older. She had blonde hair with pink extensions. She looked really cheerful of sorts, but at the moment, she was deep in thought. I could barely see her eyes, but they appeared to be emerald coloured. She wore a typical school uniform. This one, being azure and white, buttoned up. As for the skirt, it's indigo coloured. She was a few inches taller than I was, it appeared. She was looking at what was beyond the gate, a strong chlorine smell was around. Katrine and I approached her, and her attention was shifted to us. "Yes? How may I help you?"

"Huh… what are you doing here on your own?" Katrine asked.

She looked back at the gates. "These gates seem peculiar, they seem to be trapping us in. However, it seems that the amusement park continues on beyond this. So I don't exactly understand what's the point of having it closed is."

"That's fair." Katrine smiled.

The girl looked at me for a few seconds. "I don't believe we have met before." She smiled.

"No, we haven't." She seemed easy going, but she also appeared to be severely worried.

"Well, my name is **Jennifer Nylon**." But, strangely that was all she said. No mention of a talent, whatsoever.

"Huh… what kind of Ultimate are you?" Her not telling me then and there made me more interested.

She looked away, frowning. "I… don't remember, honestly." She didn't appear to be lying.

"How, do you not remember…?" I asked her.

Katrine took hold of the conversation. "Well, to be fair, everyone's memory on how we got here is a blur so it's not unreasonable someone could forget their Ultimate talent."

I guess, but I still have my doubts.

Soon, someone came running towards us. It was Ashton. "That's where you three ran off too. I have everyone gathered at the central plaza, so if you three could come, that would be perfect!" He shouted. "Jared is taking charge of the meeting to try and figure out things, so don't be late." And as quickly as he arrived, he left.

"We probably shouldn't keep him waiting…" Katrine said as she started to walk back towards the central plaza.

"Y-yeah!" I called out following her. However, I stopped when I saw Jennifer wasn't following us. "Are you coming too?"

She glanced over at me and waved me off with a smile. "Don't worry, I'll be joining you soon, just doing some thinking."

Well, I didn't want to bug her, and keep others waiting. So I walked back towards the central plaza.

Everyone was there and like Ashton said, Jared was leading the meeting.

He noticed me and Katrine and smiled. "Would that be everyone."

"Actually, no, Jennifer said she'd join soon." I informed in.

His smile turned to a frown. "Well, that is rather unfortunate, but I still believe we can hold a meeting. So let's get this out of the way first. No one here seems to have a phone, is that correct?"

Everyone pretty much nodded at this.

He continued on. "So we do not appear to have any way to communicate to the outside world. Nor do we know where this amusement park is located, as none of us have heard of it before."

Talia started to speak now. "Not to mention that I didn't find anyone else besides ourselves."

"I had to get the roller coaster running by myself." Jeremy said.

Jared didn't like that comment. "Are you saying you rode a roller coaster while everyone else was trying to figure out what happened?"

"Pretty much."

"Next time, please do not waste your time with such uselessness." Yeah, Jared definitely did not like that.

"Can we move onto a more pressing matter…" Rial spoke up.

Jared glanced over at him. "And what could that be?"

"There are seventeen cottages, and seventeen of us. Isn't that too convenient?" He shot a glance towards Jared before looking away again.

"Who knows? Maybe we are meant to sleep here." Mason chipped in.

"I'd rather not…" Richard sighed.

Mason's eyes gleamed a little bit. "But we could all do a massive sleepover! Although let's leave Denise out, I'm sure she'd just ruin it with her fashion talk and huge ego."

Denise seemingly had enough of Mason talking and went to hit him.

However, in a flash, Rial grabbed Denise's arm and glared at her. "I do not think we are in a situation to be fighting..."

Denise got the messages and walked away from Mason when Rial let his hand go.

"Wow, they should call you the Ultimate Bodyguard." Mason said.

"Shut up, asshole."

"Rude!"

"May we please get back on track?" Jared ordered, clearly mad. "Our next point of discussion will be about how many of us there actually are."

"Are you talking about there being seventeen of us? Matthew asked. "Normally in movies, this represents someone who shouldn't be there."

"Oooh! My bets are on Jennifer, she isn't here and she doesn't remember what her talent is." Mason said. At that moment, Jennifer had just arrived and was standing behind Mason with her arms crossed, (although her right arm looked to be supporting her left arm) seemingly annoyed. He chuckled a little bit with his eyes closed. "She's behind me isn't she?"

"Yes…" She said to Mason.

"Just like a movie…" Matthew mumbled to himself, bringing his hand to his chin. However it seemed everyone was going to ignore him.

"So are we saying someone who is here shouldn't be here?" Jerry asked with a smile. "Well I'd have to agree, however, there are 8 girls and 9 guys. Meaning a guy here doesn't belong." That could be true.

Rial shook his head. "This is running on the assumption that we were from the same class. If we are not, than that theory falls to shambles."

"Don't sound so defensive…" Talia sighed, looking the other way. She looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

"No, it should be a fact that we were all supposed to be in the same class. Given we all went to the same room." Jared pointed out.

"Not to interject, or anything." Jeremy cut in. "But could it be that we simply got seventeen students in this class?"

That was a possibility, but was that really the reason? Seventeen students in one class? It seemed kinda off, as all the classes always had sixteen students. For the most part. Maybe one year had fifteen, but never seventeen… Something was indeed strange.

"I don't think doubting one another will get us anywhere…" Katrine spoke up.

"That is true, but we can also not just continue on with blindly trusting everyone here." Jared added.

Ashton finally spoke up after not saying anything, despite having gone around getting everyone. "But, she's right. Doubting won't get us anywhere. We all have to try and figure out how to get out."

"Like I said, there's nothing to worry about." Matthew said confidently. "This is just some fun project!"

Suddenly, a voice ran through the area. "Is that soooo?" It had about the same level of annoyance that Mason had, but even more so.

"My long lost brother?" Mason called out. At least he's aware.

Some people were very offset by this voice, like Katrine, Veronica, and Nila. Others, like Rial, Denise, and Matthew remained calm. As for me? I didn't know what emotions to feel.

"Hey!" Ashton called out. "Show yourself!"

As if listening to Ashton, abear appeared out of nowhere from behind a tree. "Ask and you shall re-" He was there for about five seconds before he had a bullet in his head.

Rial lowered down his weapon. "Well that solves that problem."

Everyone, including myself, looked at him in terror. Why was he so quick on the draw?

"T-t-that's one way to solve that…" Veronica squeaked out.

"W-what if he had info for us!" Nila yelled. "Why was your first instinct to shoot?"

Rial glared at Nila, but he didn't say anything to her.

I looked over at the bear and saw Veronica make a move for it. "What are you doing?" I asked her.

"T-trying to see what's inside of it…" She mumbled shyly as she walked over to it. She lifted it up. "It's pretty light…"

"Well on duh!" Mason called out. "It's just a teddy bear!"

"N-no it's not…" She replied. "When the bullet connected, there was a more mechanical sound!"

"Hmm? If you say so." Mason smirked.

Veronica looked over it for a few seconds taking out tool I couldn't identify, as she tried to take apart the bear. Although it didn't work. "There's no real way to open it up…" She said quite sadly.

"Of course not!" The voice rang through our ears again. "I wouldn't make it _THAT_ easy!" The bear appeared behind us this time.

Rial instinctively reached out for his weapon again, however, Nila gripped his arm tightly. "Do not." Was all she said.

Rial sighed and stopped reaching for his weapon. What he had done earlier with Denise was reversed on him now.

"Oooo! That was a good call. Honestly, you shooting me the first time was the only leeway you were getting. If you did it again, you would be dead." The bear said.

Rial stared at the bear. "I will get rid of you, if it's the last thing I do." He then walked away to head towards the back of the crowd.

"But he shot you so easily, you don't seem too tough" Jeremy pointed out.

"Yeah, but I've got loads of spares. So goood luck."

"Spares, huh…" Jared started to think to himself.

"What the hell do you want with us, fucker?" Denise got straight to the point.

The bear appeared threatened. "Don't raise your voice like that, it's bad for my ears…"

"If you don't start talking! I won't hold back!" Ashton threatened.

The bear raised its paw. "Didn't I just warn you that I could easily kill you if you attempted to do so?"

Ashton immediately lost all of his confidence.

"Coward." Mason smirked.

"Then you do something!" Ashton told him.

"Naw!"

Since the bear never answered Denise's question, Jared decided to take things into his own hands. "Please state your business."

"Oh wow! Being interrogated by an officer? How interesting." The bear said. "Well first, I should tell you all my name. I am **Monokuma**!"

"Tsk! What a dumb name." Talia crossed her arms.

"Hey! It's not dumb!" He shouted at her. "It's all I have in this world."

"And what do you intend to do to us?" Jared asked.

"What do I intend on doing?" Monokuma tilted his head. "Absolutely nothing. However, you should be worried about you are going to do to each other!"

"To each other?" Jeremy repeated.

"Please elaborate…" Jared asked Monokuma.

He let out a little laugh before continuing to speak. "All I want to do is have you all live out your lives here, for the rest of your life."

"Like fucking hell are we doing that." Denise was glaring at the bear.

"Wow, that was quicker than I thought. Normally there would be a little more shock." Monokuma laughed again. "You want to escape so badly?"

"Let me guess? You are going to make us do something irrational?" Richard spoke up.

"Irrational? Well… maybe!" He laughed again.

"Just say it already!" Jared called out.

"Puhuhuhu! Want to play a game?"

"Play a game? Last time that was said… it didn't end well." Matthew spoke up. I didn't really have any idea about what he was talking about.

"W-what kind of game?" Miranda asked.

"Don't worry, it's a fun, family friendly game." He reassured us poorly. "A killing game!"

The moment he said that, silence shattered the area. What? A killing game? What did he mean by that!

"Like we have to kill each other?" Mason asked.

"You're joking, right?" Mindy spoke up. "No way are we doing that!"

Mason giggled a little bit. "If that's the case, let's lock up Rial! He carries a weapon!"

Rial, did not take this very lightly. "If you even attempt to do that-"

"Are you threatening me? In a place like this? At a time like this?" He smirked.

Rial stopped himself from talking. It seemed Mason made a point, he was the most dangerous.

"We don't have to kill each other… right…?" Jerry asked, seemingly disturbed.

"No, you have to kill each other!" Monokuma said.

"A-absolutely not!" Jared shouted.

Mindy was looking back and forth between Rial, Jared, and Nila. "Those three have some sort of training to kill people!"

"Hey! I have never killed someone!" Jared called out. "I rather solve things with minimal violence!"

Rial, and Nila, however, seemed to remain silent about the killing remark.

"This is some bullshit and you know it!" Ashton shouted.

"Everyone, just calm down!" Richard shouted. "Freaking out like this will not get us anywhere, and might make us doubt each other even more…"

This seemed to calm down most people, but several people were still pretty shaken.

"This… can't be happening…" Katrine mumbled to herself.

I wanted to say something to her, but, I didn't even know what to say. I then realized, I haven't really said anything this entire meeting. Why was I being silent? This was unlike me, I need to be the light of guidance in a moment like this. I went to speak, but no words escaped my mouth. It was then that I had no idea what to say…

"And what if we don't kill anyone? What then?" Ashton said.

"Hmm? Oh wow! I didn't think my plan had such an easy hole in it. Whatever will I do?" Monokuma said, the sarcasm very obvious.

"I'm sure someone like him as things in place for stuff like that." Talia said. "Dumbass…"

Ashton looked like he wanted to respond to Talia, but decided to remain silent instead.

"Now! Presents time!" Monokuma said, as he seemingly took seventeen tablets out of nowhere. He tossed them all at us. We all caught one and soon opened it up. On mine, my name flashed in bright colours, and I could only assume it happened for everyone else. I went to tap on the screen, however, it went to a list of what seemed like regulations:

.

**Rule #1:** Students may reside only within Monoland. Anyone caught leaving will be terminated immediately

.

**Rule #2:** "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.

.

**Rule #3:** I have given you respectives cottages to sleep in. While it's recommended to sleep there, it is not mandatory.

.

**Rule #4:** With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Monoland at your discretion.

.

**Rule #5:** Violence against Park Manager Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.

.

**Rule #6:** Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.

.

**Rule #7:** Once three or more people have discovered, a body discovery announcement will ring across the park.

.

**Rule #8:** Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter. Participation is mandatory for all surviving students.

.

**Rule #9:** If the guilty party is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.

.

**Rule #10:** If the guilty party is not exposed, they alone will graduate, and all remaining students will be executed.

.

**Rule #11:** Lending your Monopad to another student is strictly prohibited.

.

**Rule #12:** More rules can be added in the future.

.

I closed what was seemingly called the Monopad and looked at everyone else. They had also appeared to read the rules.

"So killing someone isn't enough?" Denise yelled out.

"Ooo! You say that like you were going to kill someone!" Mason pointed out.

He received nothing but a glare from her.

"None of us are stupid enough to kill, however…" Richard say. "It sounds like the killer would be putting their life at risk, for what appears to be an empty promise…"

"There's no way that he would simply let us leave!" Mindy brought up.

"So, how do we proceed?" Rial asked, looking at everyone.

"I say we lock up all killers!" Mason suggested.

Nila, despite seemingly having killed people in her life, seemed a little terrified. "P-please do not!"

"We do not need to take such rash measures." Jared said. "I am sure none of us will kill."

Matthew sighed. "At least not yet… I don't think the bear will stop there…"

"It's getting pretty late. Maybe we should all head to the cottages we were assigned." Jennifer suggested, having been silent for the most part. "We are in no state to continue talking. And, like Jared said, we don't want to do anything rash…"

"So, let's all head over to our cottages…" Richard agreed.

Mason spoke up, because he felt he had too. "If anyone wants to be killed, meet me by the ferris wheel in an hour!"

"I'm sure whoever goes, would simply kill you instead." Rial said. "So don't be stupid and offer yourself up like that." With that, Rial left to head over to his own room.

Several people actually left, Ashton, Richard, Nila, Mindy, Mason, Matthew, Denise, and Talia all left for their rooms without saying much.

"I-I don't want to do any of this!" Veronica mumbled to herself while holding her head. "I just want to go home…!" She slowly walked away, seemingly not wanting to talk to anyone.

Jeremy sighed. "This is a rather bad turn of events. But nothing will happen if I stay here. Bye now." He waved at everyone else and walked away.

"Dammit…!" Jared spoke to himself. "How am I supposed to keep everyone in line like this? I need to reevaluate the entire situation!" He also left.

"Maybe I should hum myself to sleep… Yeah… that always makes me feel better." Miranda was the next one to leave.

Jennifer looked at the three of us remaining, it was me, Katrine, and Jerry. It looked like she wanted to say something, but she quickly left, still clutching her left arm.

"What do we do now…?" Katrine mumbled to me.

"I… I don't know…" I said, finally saying the first words since the start of the meeting.

Jerry, still being here, joined in to our conversation. "There's nothing we really can do. So sleep and hope for the best tomorrow!" He waved goodbye to us before walking away.

"Yeah, we should probably sleep." I told Katrine.

"O-Ok…" She nodded as we headed back to the cottages. I waved her goodnight and then entered mine. What was all this? Why did we have to do this? I… I didn't do anything bad. I devoted my life to the cause, and then this happens. Why was it all turning out like this. And judging on most of them- no, no one deserves any of this. I lied down on my bed, looking at the ceiling. Tomorrow's another day… And then I slowly drifted into sleep.


	2. Chapter 1: Ride of your Life-Daily Life

Naturally, when one slept, one would dream of things they wanted, however, it was often clouded by corruption of unwanted thoughts. That's what happened during my sleep. Everything seemed peaceful, but, of course, the bear appeared inside them, ruining everything. This had awoken me from my slumber, and why I was up this early. I couldn't tell what time it was, but it seemed to be around 6 in the morning. Against my better judgement, I decided to take a walk outside.

The air was nice and cold, the moon having just passed the horizon line. I normally was up this early in the morning under normal conditions. But honestly, I just wanted to sleep endlessly. But of course, that wasn't a possibility.

Walking around aimlessly soon lead me to the cafeteria. And I realized I hadn't ate my whole time here. Which it as seemingly been 16 hours. Hungry, I tried opening the cafeteria door, however, they appeared to be locked.

That's when he appeared.

Monokuma arrived out of seemingly nowhere. "Are you trying to get yourself an early morning snack?"

"I was getting hungry, since it's been hours since I've eaten." I informed it.

He burst out yelling. "Well too bad! The cafeteria is closed off at nighttime. So you can't come here!"

"What? Why?"

"Because, I only restock food during the day, it would be troublesome if someone were to eat all the food." That's the only reason?

"Well where do I go if I want food, then?"

He pondered this question for, not very long. "You can always starve!"

"S-starve!" I yelled out in shock.

"Anyways! Gotta go!" He said, and as quickly as he appeared, he vanished.

And here I was thinking I could get some food…

"Hey!" A voice called out from behind me.

I turned around to see who it was, and was greeted with Jared.

"What are you doing here?" He crossed his arms.

I let out a sigh of relief. "I was just trying to get a snack to eat… What are you doing here?"

"I'm on patrol!" He said confidently.

I frowned a little at hearing him say that. He didn't need to. "Have you slept at all?"

"I only require two hours of sleep. So I am fine." What? Two hours?

"Jared, that's not healthy. You should get some sleep."

He shook his head. "And who will be on patrol?"

He wasn't going to let up, would he? "Well you can't protect everyone if you pass out."

"..."

"…"

"..."

"..."

"Very well…" That seemed to have gotten him to head back.

I let out a sigh and look up at the moon, which had almost completely set. I wanted to pray, but would my message even reach in a place like this? This whole ordeal seemed hopeless…

After a bit of thinking, I headed back to my cottage.

.

.

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

While doing nothing of importance, a sort of alarm played. I looked over to the monitor in my room to see what was going on.

.

Monokuma appeared on screen holding a glass of what appears to be wine. Isn't it too early for that? "Hello everyone and gooood morning! This is the morning time announcement! Everything that was closed at night is now open. So noooow you can go eat food! I'm talking to you Gregory! Monokuma, out!" The monitor turned off.

.

I looked around the room I was in, I hadn't slept much but was still somehow fully awake. Was this whole ordeal so surreal that it's making me not tired? I start preparing myself to head out when I hear a knock on the door. Curious, I walk over to open the door and was greeted with a rather tired student.

Jared stifled a yawn as he looked at me. "Everyone will be meeting up at the cafeteria to talk about stuff. Jennifer ordered a meeting of sorts."

I frowned a little bit. "Jared, didn't I tell you it would be better to head to sleep?"

Jared nodded slightly. "I did head back to my room. But I lied about only needing two hours of sleep." Why would you lie about that. "I was not expecting for a meeting to be called this early in the morning."

I shook my head a little bit. "You should get some more rest then, I'll say you couldn't make i-"

"Absolutely not!" He said, with a little more energy. "I may be tired but I won't miss out on such an important meeting!"

I let out a sigh. "Just don't pass out on the way there…"

He went silent for a moment. "Me? Pass out? Don't make me laugh! I've been on less sleep than this before and still performed miraculously!" This seems like another lie, but I won't pester. He left my room to go tell the others. I should probably go to the cafeteria now…

I walked out of my room and was greeted by someone.

Jerry was still wearing his extravagant clothes. He smiled at me. "What a wonderful day it is today. This seems to be like the beginning of a new chapter in our lives!" What an odd word choice.

"You heading to the cafeteria for the meeting?" I asked him.

"Yup yup! This should be rather interesting. We can all band together and take on Monokuma. However, it would only end poorly for everyone involved." He smiled at me. "So if anyone suggests taking down Monokuma, I will politely decline. I should probably get going now; My stomach speaks to me." He waved and walked away with a smile. What an odd fellow.

Without any other encounters, I make it to the cafeteria. I spot that Katrine is already there and opt to sit next to her.

She turned with me with a smile, although it felt filled more with sadness. "How did you sleep?"

"Well, I did get up rather early to see if I could make myself something to eat for breakfast. But apparently it was too early." I informed her.

"So that would explain why you were mentioned in the morning announcement." She smiled with a grin.

"W-wait! Everyone saw that?" I asked, coming to the realization.

She took a sip from her drink. "Probably." She smiled.

Trying to change the subject, I bring up something. "So what exactly do you think this meeting will be about?"

Katrine thought for a few moments but shrugged her shoulders. "I wasn't even expecting one to be called."

"However…" A voice cut into our conversation. It belonged to Richard. "I think a meeting is just what we need at the moment." He looked over at us with his arms crossed. "We at least need to keep some form of calm in our time of chaos." It sounded strangely deep for some reason.

"Do you want to take a seat with us?" I offered to him.

He shook his head with a smile. "I don't wish to sit. I'll stay standing, thank you very much."

Katrine frowned slightly. "But you don't need to stand."

He glanced at her but didn't say anything else besides that.

"Aaalright." Katrine mumbled.

Soon, everyone else who wasn't here gathered into the cafeteria.

Jennifer slowly stood up and looked around at everyone, her left arm idly by her side. "Alright, I think now is a good time to start talking." She looked at everyone else.

"What will the subject of the meeting be?" Jeremy asked.

Jennifer took a deep breath. "Please, do not listen to anything Monokuma says. Do not give in to what he says. Even if what he says tempt you. If we don't allow any of this to start, we should be alright. But the moment it starts, it won't stop." It seemed, rather ominous and strange.

Mason smirked at what she said. "Wow, sounds like you have experience with these."

Jennifer shook her head. "I don't. I'm just thinking rationally, and I expect everyone else to also think rationally."

Ashton stood up proudly "Like any of us would be stupid enough to actually kill! I'm sure we will push through all of this!"

Talia covered her ears since he was a little loud. "Geez! Keep it down will you. We can hear you perfectly fine with your regular voice."

He seemed to lower his voice a little. "Oh, sorry about that." He sat back down.

Jared spoke up, not as tired as when he went to get me. "Which is why I volunteer to keep a watch of the place at night. If I can stop something from happening at night, we can watch each other in the day."

Mindy frowned. "You all act as if something will actually happen. I highly doubt any of us will do anything."

He pointed at her, somewhat angry. "This is just a precaution!"

"You don't need to shout either." Talia sighed.

"Hey Jared!" Mason spoke up. "What's stopping someone from killing you at night?"

Jared turned to face Mason and frowned angrily. "I am a cop, it will take more than a simple attack to beat m-"

Mason pointed to Rial and Nila.

This shut him up.

"See? Jared isn't the one who would stop anyone. Either Rial or Nila would do fine." He smirked. I did not like the look at that smirk.

Matthew pondered over this for a few seconds. "I would feel safer with someone like Nila watching over. I don't know why, but Rial doesn't sit right with me."

He let out a sigh. "I don't sit well with most people. Nothing new." He looked away.

"I do not believe I would be fit to stay up all night and keep watch." Nila frowned. "I think Jared would still be our best choice."

"Exactly!" He called out. "I have done this kind of thing before. So it would not be a burden."

"But you also need some sleep." I interject. "You were pretty tired this morning."

"Lies." Jared mumbled over to me, kinda in an embarrassed tone.

"Well then I think it should also be Jared." Jennifer says. "He would have the most experience to do this for as long as we are here."

Jerry tilted his head. "How long are we going to stay here."

Ashton smirked. "Until we find a way to beat the bear!"

"Aaaaand I'm bailing." Jerry smiled. "I do not wish to get caught up in your suicidal endeavors."

"Well aren't you a party pooper!" Mason pointed out.

Richard let out a sigh. "We don't need to fight Monokuma. If we can escape without risking our lives like that, we should do that."

Suddenly.

Bear.

"You better not be thinking of killing me!" Monokuma said, looking at everyone.

Mason grinned wickedly. "But Rial has already shot you once. What's stopping him from doing it again?"

"Puhuhuhu!" He laughed. "The realization that shooting me is futile. It's obvious that I have more spares than you can ever imagine to count!"

"Why are you here Monokuma?" Mindy asked him.

Monokuma looked down to the ground. "I just wanted to make sure everyone was holding up. Oh! And also, two Ultimate Attractions are now open."

"Ultimate Attractions?" I asked.

"Yup yup! They are attractions specifically made to hone your talents." Monokuma said.

Jerry thought for a moment. "Can we use it for foreshadowing?"

Monokuma went silent for a few seconds. "No you cannot!" And then he vanished.

Ultimate Attractions, huh?

"Hmm…" Richard started to think. "This is definitely not something we should ignore. We need to check this out."

Miranda stood up quickly. "Then what are we waiting for! Who knows, it might be one of ours." She left the cafeteria in a hurry.

"Full of energy, aren't we?" Jerry grinned as he also left.

Matthew slowly got up. "This, I've gotta see." He left the building.

Katrine patted my shoulder. "We should go check it out."

I got up and followed Katrine out of the building. Some people weren't exactly curious and simply resumed eating, or went back to their cottage. The people who did not follow us included, Rial, Veronica, Nila, Mindy, Mason, Denise, and Talia.

Which makes our group me, Jerry, Jennifer, Jeremy, Miranda, Katrine, Ashton, Richard, Jared, and Matthew. It was still a decent amount of people.

The group decided to divide itself into groups of five. Katrine actually went over to the other group for some reason. My group consisted of Jennifer, Ashton, Jared, and Matthew

The first new area was near the center of the place. It was a new building.

The first to take a peek inside was Jared. "It seems to be filled with monitors of sort." He mumbled. He took a step inside and seemed to smile warmly. "There is no doubt that this one belongs to me. It is obviously a security room." He took a seat at the chair in front of the monitors. "This will make monitoring the entire place that much easier."

I looked around the room. There seemed to be a wall of monitors that showed several views of the park. Yes, this would help Jared, no doubt. There was a closet storage in the back which I took the time to look at. It seemed to have some spare uniforms, some flashlights, and some batons. There seemed to be a box of donuts on a counter, to add insult to injury, I guess? Besides that, the room seemed to be some sort of sombre metallic blue and was kinda off putting. Especially compared to what was outside of here. But it did fit the mood of the situation we had found ourselves in.

Matthew took a glance at the cameras. "You know, despite being security cameras. They have a rather high quality to them." He mumbled to mostly himself.

"Ah, yes, as a director. You have a lot of knowledge on cameras, right?" I asked him.

He nodded, stroking his chin. "Yes, I do have knowledge. These cameras are almost as good the ones I used at my studios. It seems rather odd."

I took a moment to process what he said. "Odd? How so?"

"Well, why go out of the way to get such high quality cameras? It's open to us to investigate, so it's not a secure location." He went on.

"That is rather strange." I agreed. "Makes you think this place is new…"

Matthew walked over to the screens. "More than likely, these models are brand new."

I walked over to the monitors to look at them. "They would appear to be so."

"Anyways, I still have to look around the place myself. So go talk to someone else." Matthew said as he walked away.

I glanced around and Ashton was staring at what appeared to be some blank monitors. I approached him. "Hey, what are you doing staring at them? There's nothing on them."

He glanced over at me. "Exactly!" He called out with his loud voice. "They are turned on, but aren't displaying anything. As if we aren't meant to watch them yet."

I looked at them. "Not yet?"

"You saw the four gates surrounding areas. What if these monitors are for them?" He said.

I glanced back at them and start counting. "There seems to be enough to support that theory."

"Really? Alright! I hadn't even thought about counting the monitors." Ashton smirked to himself.

Jared approached us. "While that would be useful for monitoring, it wouldn't do me much good when I need to run over to where the camera is. Although the supposed layout of this park makes it much easier." He smiled before walking away.

Ashton thought for a moment. "I wonder what kind of other themes this park as. At least, I'm assuming there will be themes. If there weren't there would be no reason to divide them by gates." Ashton walked away, leaving me to myself.

The next person I could talk to would be Jennifer. She was looking at a monitor and comparing it to outside. She was still holding her left arm.

I walked over to her to see what she was doing. "Is everything OK?"

She glanced at me and nodded. "I just want to see if these cameras are real or not."

"We could always go test it out." I suggest to her.

She shook her head. "It's fine, the trees seems to be moving the same. There are other ways to check."

"You must be rather observant to notice something like that."

She smiled softly. "I have to be observant. It's my duty." Well that wasn't ominous.

"So are you sure you don't remember your talent?" I asked her, although I wish I didn't.

She seemed to have gotten a little angry. "It's not about if I remember or not, so could you just drop it?"

I didn't know where to go from there. Now it was time to talk to who this building was for. "Jared, do you think this will work out well for you?"

Jared was smiling. "Yes. This will help me immensely. I can keep everyone safe with this."

He seemed very adamant on making sure everyone is safe. I guess that would be natural. He is an officer. That's what he's trained for. "Well we are counting on you."

His smile turned to a frown. "Which makes me worried. If I mess up, I'll just blame myself."

I frowned with him. "You won't be able to prevent everything from happening."

"No, but I can try." He said, but it sounded somewhat sad. "Anyways, I have this place covered. Feel free to go over to the other Ultimate Attraction."

I nodded as I left this place in search.

I didn't have to search for too long as I came across a building that seemed to have some sort of casino theme playing. I walked over to where it was coming from. I was greeted with a flashy building of sorts. It had a sign of an ace of spade on the front.

Entering the building, I saw the second group roaming around. There were various casino games scattered around the place.

"Oh! Why if it isn't Gregory!" Jerry said happily. "I'm so glad you could join us. We were just about to start a game. Are you interested?"

I shook my head. "I don't like to gamble."

"Oh, yes. I understand." Jerry said, realizing why.

I shook my head with a smile. "It's fine."

"Well, as you may have guessed. This is Katrine's attraction. And they are, well…" Jerry trailed off.

Katrine pulled the lever for the roulette and got the jackpot. Miranda smiled brightly at this.

"Yeah…" He trailed off again. "Easily distracted."

"Why don't you go play with them?" I asked him, since the rest of the group seemed to be having fun.

"What? No!" He laughed a little bit. "I have some of the worst luck. I would rather stay over here. Don't let me stop you from talking to the others. You kinda need to to progress."

"To progress what?" I asked.

Jerry simply shrugged. "Who knows?"

I let out a sigh and walked over to the room. Jeremy, Katrine, and Miranda seemed to be occupied by the slots. However, Richard was off on his own, looking around the room. I approached him to start a conversation. "See anything you like?"

He glanced over at me and shook his head. "Not anything out of the ordinary. What did you find at the other attraction?"

"Oh, it belonged to Jared, and it's basically a sort of security room. You can keep watch over the whole park." I informed him.

He pondered this for a few moments. "That is rather interesting. Might make his job easier. I should check it out in a few minutes."

I nodded at that. "Although this room is still rather questionable."

"I agree, it doesn't seem fitting here." Richard said.

I shook my head. "I meant more so Katrine doesn't seem like much of a gambler."

He scoffed a little bit. "She's the Ultimate Lucky Student, what did you expect?"

"Yeah, but she's not the Ultimate Gambler." I pointed out.

Richard went silent for a moment. "True, but they can both be demonstrated by casinos. So it was probably easier."

I nodded at that and looked around. "I better make sure they don't get too addicted to this."

"Good luck." He waved at me with a smirk as I walked away.

"Ah man, I never get lucky." Jeremy said to himself as the roulette landed on basically nothing.

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." I told him before I realized I was trying to make sure he doesn't get addicted. "Although if you don't get any better-"

"Ah, I'm not going to get addicted. I'm just doing this to get my mind off of things." He frowned. "With the way things are. I think people just want to get distracted."

I thought about this for a moment. "You are probably right."

"Don't get discouraged, though. I believe there is still hope." He smiled at me.

"Of course there is still hope. I trust this group." I smiled back

Jeremy turned towards the roulette again and pulled the lever. This time, he at least got something. "See? I'm already improving."

I smiled at him and walked away. Katrine seemed busy… winning. I will talk to her last.

"Dammit." Miranda mumbled to herself.

"Not having any luck?" I ask as I watch.

She frowned. "I normally do decent at these. I guess Katrine stole all of my luck." She smiled. She didn't seem bothered and said it as a joke.

"She seems rather invested in this." I mentioned.

Miranda nodded a little bit. "She says it reminds her of home a little bit."

Hmm… so it reminds her of home. I'll need to make sure to remember that. "Are you doing this to also get your mind off of things?"

She let out a sigh. "I guess you can say that. I'm not really in the mood to play my violin anyways."

"How come?" I asked her, a little worried.

She let out another sigh. "I don't really know. I'm just not really in the mood to play. I'm not feeling inspired to play as I normally am. Of course it has to do with being here." She looked over at me. "Maybe I will find my motivation soon." She then went back to the roulette.

Now, the last person here. I walked over to Katrine. "So I see this one is yours?" I spoke to her.

She didn't seem to hear me as she was concentrating on what she would get. She got another amazing score. Not the best, but still good.

"Katrine?"

She finally realized I was there as I turned around. "Oh? How long have you been standing there?"

"Just a few seconds." I smiled at her. "You seem to be doing pretty good."

"Yeah, but that's just my talent." She frowned. "Not really something I can control."

I frowned when she frowned, but turned it into a smile. "No, but it's one of the best talents to have. It's like a blessing from above."

"Hmm… I guess you can say that." She smiled back. "Hey, do you want to try it?"

I was about to decline the offer, but then I thought to myself, nothing is really at stake.

She passed me a coin and I placed in the machine, pulling the lever.

Short story short, I lost.

"You win some, you lose some." She smiled at me.

"But I only went once. And I didn't win. So no, I didn't win any." I wasn't bitter. I said in a joking manner.

She smiled before turning towards the entrance. "I think that should be it for today. I don't want to get too absorbed." She left the building and I soon followed her out.

After that, I returned to my cottage to think things over.

Before I knew it, a few hours had passed and I hadn't done much. So I decided to head outside to see if there was anyone I could talk to.

The only person I did find outside seemed to be a rather indifferent Rial who was looking beyond the gate for some reason. I approached him to start a conversation, despite my better judgement.

"So…" I started off this conversation with Rial, man, this was going to be difficult. He's like the complete opposite of me. I needed to find something to ask before he left to go do something else. "Why did you a sniper in the first place?" Exactly what I didn't want to know.

He glanced at me coldly before closing his eyes. "Because I'm good at it. Are there any more questions?"

"How… how good are you at it?" I asked a terrible question there.

"Good enough that I could probably shoot you while I'm falling." He said menacingly. "No, really, I've been trained to skydive and shoot targets. It was a really weird training day." He looked the other way again.

"Huh…" Yeah, this was an awkward conversation. "What about the people you kill, why?"

He glanced back at me. "I'm hired by officials to take care of people that may be a threat to society. Although I do have limits. If they ever hire me to kill a child, I decline without hesitating. Children are the next generation of this nation. We shouldn't remove them from the picture. Not just that but I don't want to have to shoot someone in front of a child, they do not need that trauma in their lives. Elderly I'm 50/50 on. I don't want to kill a grandmother or grandfather, but also, they are probably about to die soon anyways." That comment made me frown. "Finally," He continued. "I don't kill political figures. The first and last time I did it, someone else got framed for it. I even had to leave another model of this sniper rifle at the scene so I could escape. And that's pretty much it. Are you done now?"

Yeah… I should probably go now. "Thanks for this… conversation?"

"Please do not speak to me again…" He looked the other way.

Well, that was rather interesting. I hadn't expected that sort of conversation at all. I think that's enough for today. I headed back to my room.

.

Several hours later, it was starting to get rather late. I headed over to the cafeteria to grab something to eat. Although the place seemed rather empty at the moment. Only four people besides me were there. Jerry, Mindy, Richard, and Veronica.

Veronica was looking at her food, stifling a yawn. She seemed tired.

Mindy was simply staring at her food, not that interested in eating it.

Richard was eating his food, seemingly reluctantly.

Jerry was, huh, playing with his food. Now he's juggling oranges. Jerry, please, stop.

I walk over to the table after getting some food. They had all decided to sit at the same table, probably because it gives them a sense of safety in numbers. But none of them wanted to talk to each other.

"We can all talk to each other." I said, looking at the four of them.

Mindy glanced up at me, sighing. "What's the point?"

The point? "What do you mean, the point? We are all stuck in this together. We should at least get to know each other better."

"He has a point." Jerry said with a smile. "The more we get to know each other, the less likely the inevitable happens." Alright, poor choice of words.

"Why did you call it the inevitable?" Mindy glanced over at him.

Jerry frowned. "A slip of the tongue."

Richard glanced up at me and then the others. It looked like he was going to say something, but seemed to remain silent.

Jerry turned to look at Veronica. "Why don't you join into the conversation?"

She blushed from what seemed like embarrassment. "I-I'm not good in conversations…"

Jerry tilted his head. "How do you expect to get better if you don't join in?"

She looked at him for a moment before glancing down.

Richard let out a sigh. "She doesn't need to join the conversation if she doesn't want to."

"I'm just saying it would be fun. But I understand if you don't." He smiled warmly at her.

Mindy looked around. "Where is everyone else anyways?"

Richard shook his head. "Unlike all of you, they ate a little early."

"6:30 isn't late-" I started to say.

He let out a sigh. "Most of them showed up at 5." He looked at all of us.

"Alright, maybe this is a little late." I mumbled.

Richard took a bit from his food. "I'm only still here because I've been eating rather slowly."

Jerry laughed a little bit. "And I'm only here late because I didn't want everyone to see me playing with my food."

I took a moment to respond. "I normally eat around this time, so it didn't feel odd to me."

Richard finished his food and grabbed his tray. "Well, we should head out soon. It's getting dark."

"But the sun is still out." Mindy pointed out.

He let out another sigh. "Well if you stay out, stay in groups of at least three. We don't want anything to happen." He brought his tray to the counter and left the building.

I took a bite from my food and look at everyone else.

"Well," Jerry smiled. "I'm off." He got up and walked out of the cafeteria, leaving his food there.

Mindy stood up too. She didn't seem to have touched her food. "I'll be going too." She walked away.

It seemed to be just me and Veronica left. I took a bite from my food and looked at her. She didn't seem to be in the mood to talk, so I didn't pursue any conversation. I stood up after I was done and brought my tray. I started to head out, turning back towards her. "Stay safe." She didn't acknowledge me. I let out a sigh and walked out of the cafeteria.

.

Nothing much happened for the rest of the night and I fell asleep.

.

I woke up the next morning when the morning announcement woke me up. I didn't give it much attention and left to head over to the cafeteria. So far, besides from the Ultimate Attractions, nothing big has happened yet.

I was one of the last people to arrive at the cafeteria. The last one arriving seemed to be Jared.

"Glad everyone could make it." He smiled.

"Why? Do you have a meeting?" Mason asked.

He looked over at him. "What? No! I'm just happy everyone is safe." He let out a yawn. "I stayed up all night at my Ultimate Attraction. It felt, somewhat relaxing."

"So how come we don't get any rooms like that?" Denise asked, her arms crossed.

Ashton spoke up. "Well, there seemed to be some empty monitors in his Attraction. So I assume that there will be more areas."

Jeremy smiled at this. "You also need to remember we are surrounded by four gates on all sides." He pointed out. "So there's likely four more areas. I'm sure not every area has only two. Maybe more, so I don't think we'll be waiting long."

"But when will those areas open up?" Richard chipped in.

"Maybe new areas unlock after a killing happens." Mindy suggested.

Everyone stopped and looked over at Mindy.

"I'm not saying we should kill! Why would I say to kill? I'm just giving a theory." She tried to defend herself.

"It's very likely that that is the case, however." Jeremy said.

"And it's a thing we will never stoop to." Jared said, angrily.

Rial seemed to smirk, it's hard to tell with the mask. "Murder is inevitable here." He said.

"Are you saying you'll kill one of us?" Katrine asked.

"Me? No. I have no intention to kill someone unless it's to defend myself." He looked away. "However, I'm sure the bear will treat self defense as murder too. So be careful."

Denise seemed kinda angry at that. "Self defense also counts? That's fucking stupid."

"Murder is murder, no matter how it happens." Miranda sighed.

Rial got up and started heading towards the exit. "I'm leaving now…"

Talia stood up too. "Yeah. I don't want to stick around."

"Hey! Waitress! There's a fly in my soup!" Mason called out.

She flipped him off while walking away. "Up yours!"

"I'd like that very much!" He smiled.

After a while, everyone else seemed to disperse away from the cafeteria.

Nothing much happened today.

.

.

.

Before I knew it, the day had flown past rather quickly. It was nighttime. I had decided to head to bed.

.

.

.

I had a dream. A dream of me being back at my church. I was with the people I've known my entire life. I wish things could go back to being like this. I was passing on the messages I've been passing on for a long time. If only I was still there and not here. I've spoke of Hell before. But who knew I would end up there at such a young age.

.

.

.

I soon woke up to the morning announcements, but this one was slightly different.

.

"Gooood morning everyone! Today is going to be a special day. So I need everyone up and into the cafeteria for a very special announcement. You wouldn't want to miss it. Monokuma, out!" The screen turned off.

.

Letting out a sigh, I stood up and got ready. After I was ready, I left to head over the cafeteria. Almost everyone was already there, but we waited for the few stragglers that weren't there to show up.

That's when Monokuma finally appeared.

"Hello everyone!" He called out.

"Just get to the point." Rial sighed.

Monokuma turned to face him. "I hadn't even started evading the point yet! Are you THAT impatient?"

He just gave Monokuma a glance, who just sighed.

"Alright! The point is, it's been two full days since I gave the go ahead to start killing each other! And no one has even started!" He yelled out. "What gives!"

"We aren't murderers!" Katrine called out.

Mason had his hands behind his head. "Well at least not most of us."

"Which is why I'm thinking of giving you all a little push." Monokuma said with a grin of sorts.

"A push…? What kind of push?" I asked.

He laughed to himself before jumping onto the table. "A motive! Something that will make you consider murder has the best option. What could it be! What could it be!"

Jared looked angrily at Monokuma. "Nothing you say will make any of us kill!"

"Oh? What about if I told you that all of your families were in some form of danger. Or that the outside world had been run into the mud? Wouldn't that leave you with so many questions?"

"What exactly are you getting at!" Ashton shouted out.

"You must have a lot of _**questions**_!" He laughed to himself. "Questions that I would be willing to answer."

Jeremy looked at Monokuma. "Elaborate on what kind of questions we can ask."

"Don't tell me you want to know more about this proposal!" Ashton shouted at him.

He shook his head. "It's not like that, dude. But if we know what the boundaries are, could change who would be more likely to succumb to it. I mean no harm."

Nila looked at the two. "He does bring up a rather fair point. We need to find out who would have the most to ask."

Monokuma coughed a few times before resuming to talk. "I'll have you know you can ask almost any question you want. Although any questions involving me or where you are are strictly forbidden!" He yelled out. "But some of you may be interested to know what happened to your families and such. You know, it has been several years since you've seen them. I'd even go as far as to say, it's been two years since you last saw them!"

Rial seemed to nod in understanding.

Two years? That's insane!

"Two years? What is this?" Richard crossed his arms.

Matthew started stroking his chin again. "Sounds like a plot to a terrible movie."

"I'll have you know you guys are the main actors of that terrible movie!" Monokuma yelled at Matthew.

"What happened to our families!" Veronica yelled out, somewhat forceful.

"Hey! That two years seems very questionable!" Ashton yelled out. "I saw my dad and brother just a few short days ago!"

Monokuma let out a small laugh. "Was it reeeally a few days ago?"

"W-what are you implying?" He asked him.

"Who knows?" Monokuma laughed. "You'll just have to kill someone to find out!" And with that, he vanished.

This left the room in silence.

"D-did he do something to our families?" Nila asked, worried.

Denise scoffed. "I highly doubt that he would be able to do something on a scale like that."

"I don't knoooow! He did manage to kidnap all of us." Mason smirked.

She glared at him. "I didn't ask you!"

"Phooey." He mumbled sadly to himself.

"Whatever any of you want to ask, you must not give into that sort of temptation." Jennifer said, looking at everyone individually.

"I do not think anyone would make such an irrational choice, anyways." Nila said.

Matthew continued to stroke his chin. "We won't know until it's too late anyways. I think it's wise we don't let our guard down."

"I will be keeping an eye on those security cameras more thoroughly now." Jared said. "We need it now more than ever."

"Anyone who dares try and kill will be incapacitated from doing so." Rial said, rather harshly.

"Look at all the people with their confidence. You can't be everywhere at once!" Mason pointed out.

"But…" Jared started saying. "I can watch everywhere."

"The killer could wear a disguise. Even then, you wouldn't be quick enough to stop them." He pointed out.

That shut Jared up now, something I'd rather not see.

Mason continued. "If someone really wants to kill, they would make every effort to make sure you can't prove it's them. Don't you understand? Some silly cameras won't stop them!"

The whole room fell silent. Mason brought up some valid points.

He then broke this by smiling. "But what do I know? I'm just some comedian." He then left the cafeteria, leaving the rest of us to think on our own.

Talia seemed kinda mad. "Fuck this, I don't have time to deal with this." She marched out of the cafeteria with a stomp to her feet.

A few other people left, probably with the goal of locking themselves in their roam. Denise, Miranda, Rial, and Veronica also left.

"So…" Katrine started. "He won't stop till something happens, won't he?"

"Seems that way." Richard looked out the window. "But it doesn't mean we should give him what he wants."

Jerry tilted his head. "As if we would give him what he wants. Who does he think we are?"

"I mean…" Mindy started to think. "Put under any stress, anyone would eventually snap." She looked at everyone who had stopped to stare at her. "Oh, just ignore me. I should probably head back to my room." And then she left.

"Man… this sure dampers the mood." Ashton sighed. "I need to head out…" He walked out of the cafeteria.

"It seems the tension is high." Jeremy said. "It's only natural, we've all been giving a motive, although it's a rather stupid one. It's natural that people will be more likely to kill."

"A killing is bound to happen…" Matthew said, stroking his chin. It seemed to be that whenever he talked, he would most likely do that.

Jennifer looked outside. "We should all head out to our rooms now." She left the cafeteria, probably to head to hers.

Jerry smile softly. "I agree with mystery lady. We can avoid conflict in our rooms. Probably." He frowned at that last word and left.

"It would seem there is nothing much to do at the current moment." Nila said, looking at the ground. "If you ever need my aid. You will know where to find." She also left.

"I'll be heading off too…" Richard said, looking away from everyone, arms crossed.

Jeremy left without saying anything much.

Jared started to leave before turning towards everyone else. "Stay safe, everyone." He then departed.

Me and Katrine were about to leave when Matthew spoke up.

"Yes, definitely being controlled by someone." He said to himself.

I glance over at him. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

He looked up at me and shook his head. "Forget about what I said" He also left the cafeteria.

Katrine frowned. "What was all that about?"

"I… don't know…" I said, watching him leave. "Well, I'm going to head back to my room."

"Me too…" Katrine frowned.

We both left and then went our separate ways. I opened the door to my cottage and sat down on my bed. What was even happening? Why was this happening. I let out a sigh. There's nothing I can do right now.

.

I stayed in my room for most of the day, going out at one point since I had grown lonely. I had also gone out to eat. But besides that, I didn't go out of my room. I glanced outside and noticed someone walking outside. Veronica was walking around, her head looking at the ground, like she was searching for something. I opened the door and walked out. "Hey, what are you looking for?"

She turned to look at me, kinda nervous. "I have appeared to drop my wrench." She said with a small amount of stuttering.

"Your wrench?" I asked. "Oh right." I recall that she had been holding one when I met her. "When was the last time you had it?" I ask her.

"I don't really remember…" She seemed embarrassed. "I don't normally take it out. But I found something that was bugging me. So I went to take it out, and it wasn't there." She frowned.

"And you already checked your room?" I asked her.

She nodded slowly. "What if Monokuma took it?"

I thought for a moment. "I don't think Monokuma would take a wrench for no reason."

"Well…" She trailed off. "Would you be able to help me? You seem more trustworthy than most of the people here."

I now feel like the wrench was not because she found something that bugs her. Maybe it's for some form of self defense. She seemed to be really scared about all this and probably had a short list of people she would trust. "Yeah. I'll help." I smiled at her.

Her eyes lit up a little bit. "Really?"

I nodded at her.

.

We spent what felt like a few hours searching, but we didn't find it.

"It's getting rather late…" I mumbled.

Veronica glanced up at the setting sun. "Yeah… I'm getting hungry. We should probably head there now." She walked off to head over to the cafeteria.

I followed her until we got there.

The cafeteria was pretty much empty besides a few people.

"Perfect…" The voice of a girl said. I turned to see who it was. It was Talia, who seemed annoyed that other people had shown up. "I thought coming here this late would have meant I had the place to myself… but…" She glanced over at someone.

That someone was Jerry, who was juggling again. He glanced over at us and shrugged. "What? It's relaxing."

"It's annoying…" She groaned.

I let out a sigh, getting myself some food and sitting down.

"Can't you do that elsewhere." She sighed.

"But I need an audience." Jerry frowned.

Talia sighed again. "Aren't there other people you can annoy?"

He shook his head. "Nope! They are all locked up in their rooms. They're scared, you know." He frowned.

Talia sighed and went back to her food. "Do whatever…" She mumbled.

Me and Veronica got some food and sat down at the table.

Talia was eating her food with her eyes closed. Probably out of annoyance.

Jerry sighed and stopped juggling. "Alright. I'll stop. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Everyone is just so tense lately. I don't think anything will happen at all."

Talia let out another sigh. "Just let them be scared. I'm not going to try and stop them. And for all they know, being scared is probably best for them."

"I think being scared is the worst thing that could happen. Who knows what people will do when they're scared." He frowned.

"Well then fucking do something about it!" She yelled at him.

"I'm trying!" He stood up. "What the hell do you want a juggler to do! Did you ever think about that!" He stormed off.

I glanced over at Veronica and motioned that we should probably eat outside.

She shook her head. "I'm going to go eat at my room. If that's allowed."

"It's not against the rules…" Talia said, taking a bite from her food.

Veronica nodded before leaving.

I sighed and also headed to my room. I would return the tray tomorrow.

.

.

.

Tonight's dream was similar to last night's dream. I was at church once again. I was at home. I was safe. Although, when are we truly safe. The sound of thundering earth was heard in my dream and my church started to shake violently, like an earthquake. The building was collapsing in on itself. And suddenly, a portal opened up. By the time I glanced over at it, whatever it was made a loud explosion noise of sorts and fire started to spread.

I woke up after that.

.

I woke up, not knowing what time it really was. I glanced outside and could see some light. It seemed peaceful.

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

Like usual, the TV turned on to show Monokuma, drinking a glass of wine. "Rise and shine, urs- woops. Wrong greeting! Looks like it's another beautiful morning at Monoland! This is day four of you all being here. I hope you are all enjoying your time here! Monokuma, out!" And then the monitor turned off.

.

I got myself off the bed when suddenly…

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

The monitor turned on, and I heard five words that would forever shatter everything. "A body has been discovered!"

.

I didn't even get myself ready or anything. My outfit was a mess since I had so little time to put it on. And I didn't bother listening to the rest of the announcement. I ran out of my cottage and over to the central plaza of the area. Maybe I could see where it was happening from there? I was right, once I got there, I could see where it must have happened. It was unmistakable. It was at the rollercoaster. I ran over there as fast as I could. Three people were already there. Jared, Nila, and Veronica. Jared I understood why he was there, but I didn't know why the other two were there so early. The morning announcement had just gone off. But it's not time to worry about that. I glance over at the roller coaster, the horrors reflected in my eyes.

.

The roller coaster was on fire, a bright, horrible fire. Some of the tracks were broken, completely missing. Several parts were scattered all across the ground near the roller coaster. The cart for the coaster was crashed into the ground, digging into it slightly. But, the main thing of interest, oh god. Why did this have to happen. In the midst of the fire, was a person. They had what appeared to be a metal bar stabbed through their heart. Besides from that, they were lifeless above it. Their hair had caught on fire from being so deep into it. I could smell flesh burning. The body, was none other than the Ultimate… the Ultimate… well, we never did find out. It was Jennifer Nylon.


	3. Chapter 1: Ride of your Life-Deadly Life

Why. Why did this even happen? Why did someone need to die. Why did someone die at all? I glanced at the three people who were here with me. They're expressions filled with the horrors of what they were currently witnessing.

"W-what happened!" I managed to stutter out.

Jared turned towards me. "The cart just came off and crashed!" He glanced back at the fire. "I'm not sure if that's where the fire came from or not." He said, clenching his fist.

"Did you see who did this?" I asked him.

He looked the other way. "I was away from my station for several minutes…"

"Why were you away from your station?" I asked.

He shook his head. "We don't have time to worry about that right now! We have to put this fire out!"

Rial soon showed up with what appeared to be two buckets of water. "This won't suffice." He let out a sigh. "There are buckets in the kitchen part of the cafeteria. Please go get more. Some others are already gone to get more. Use the sink in there."

I nodded and headed towards the kitchen, however, Katrine ran past me, empty handed. "Hey! Wait, you should probably get a bucket of wate-!"

She didn't seem to hear me and kept running. She soon arrived and stopped, looking at the situation. She then ran over to the fire.

I ran after her to try and stop her.

Suddenly, just as soon as she ran there, a weird sequence of events happened.

A man hole that was there suddenly burst open and water started to spurt everywhere. The fire soon got extinguished.

"W-what?" I mumbled out, after arriving to where she was.

"Scary, isn't it…" She mumbled.

I took a moment to realize that she was talking about her luck. "V-very…" I mumbled.

Rial glanced over at Katrine and then Jared. "Me bringing water seems to have been rather useless."

"I did not know that would happen." Jared pointed out.

"Yeah…" Rial sighed.

Soon, everyone else gathered, some with buckets, others without.

"Sorry, I solved the problem already." Katrine smiled.

We didn't have time to say anything when.

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Woops! We had a water leak and it sprayed water around here!" Monokuma said. "I hope it didn't cause any problem." He glanced at the rollercoaster.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY ROLLER COASTER?" He freaked out.

Rial shrugged. "Beats me."

"Oh weeeell! At least a murder finally happened." He laughed.

"N-no way one of us did this!" Veronica paled.

Monokuma laughed again. "Of course one of you did it! Who else would be able to do this!"

"You." Jerry deadpanned.

Monokuma shook his head sadly. "I have no reason to do this."

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Richard asks, arms crossed.

"Because it's so boring for me to murder someone. I'll let someone else do that." He said.

"So…" Rial trailed off. "We need to figure out who did this now…" He looked the other way.

"Yup! You now have to investigate the scene of the crime. And other places, if it applies." Monokuma tilted his head. "But first!" He pulled out a tablet like thing. "It's the Monokuma file!"

He handed it to me. "Read it, it should have some useful information." He then vanished as quickly as he appeared.

I glanced at the Monokuma File and opened it.

.

**Monokuma File #1**

.

**The victim this time is Jennifer Nylon, the Ultimate I Know My Talent But I Won't Say What It Is. She was killed when a metal bar stabbed her through the heart. She was also severely burned by fire. She seemed to be under the influence of something. But can't tell you what. There's a small hole in her left shoulder. She died around 6:59am. Nothing else is known.**

.

"Thirty minutes ago…" I frowned. "That's terrible."

"Well…" Matthew stepped in. "The only reasonable thing we can do is investigate."

Richard let out a sigh. "I may be a pet doctor. But I still have some sort of medical training when it comes to stuff like this. I know we were given the cause of death, but I find it wise to still check to make sure he isn't lying."

"Yes." Jared smiled.

"We should start by trying to figure out where everyone was." Nila said. "I know it happened early in the morning so everyone could say they were sleeping, but…"

"I agree, when I got here, four people were already here." Rial looked over at me, and the other three.

"I will discuss this later." Jared said. "First, I must check something." He then walked off. That seemed kinda off to me. But maybe he was going to check the security cameras.

"So…" Katrine trailed off. "It looks like we should start investigating."

I looked around the roller coaster. "Yeah… it would seem like that." I frowned. I've never done something like this, and I would like to keep it that way. But now is not the time to be thinking about that.

I took another look around. "Might as well… start with the body…" I mumbled as I approached her body. Richard was off to the side thinking. Looks like he already did some investigating while I was thinking. I was going to talk to him, when…

Something, despite it being rather small, caught my eye. There seemed to be a rather small hole in her left shoulder.

"You noticed that too, huh?" Richard asked, looking at my direction.

I gave a small nod. "Do you know what it is?"

"Well, it's hard to tell what is really is." He thought for a moment. "But of course knives are ruled out. The hole would be much bigger, and it wouldn't be round." He went silent for a moment. "Something like…" He was about to say but he cut himself off. "I'll need more time to think about it.

The next thing I walked over to were the multiple metal bars she had stabbed into her.

"As for that…" Richard started. "It seems she landed on it while falling…"

"While falling?" Katrine repeated.

He nodded slowly. "It sounds rather brutal, but I don't think she would have felt much pain. But then again, I'm not a human doctor, she could still have been alive a few moments after the impact. Although very unlikely, considering she was stabbed through the heart."

Katrine frowned, looking back at Jennifer. "Well, at least it was quick…" She mumbled.

I turn to look at Richard. "Anything else you can tell us?"

He nodded. "I'm not sure if this will be of any use, but it seemed like she broke her arm while falling. The bones in her left arm are very badly injured. Not just that, but…" He trails off once again.

"Go on…" I say.

"The left side, strangely has more burn marks then the right." He told me.

"What does that even mean…?" I started thinking to myself.

He gave a shrug. "I wish I could tell you, but that's all I really was able to gather from my mini investigation." He sighed.

I backed away from the body to get myself some air to breathe. I looked around and noticed that not everyone was here. It seemed like a few of them had left. I saw Nila, and remembered she had been here long before I ever arrived. I approached her. "Hey Nila."

She looked over at me with a frown. "Hello there."

"I… just wanted to ask you something…" I told her.

She tilted her head in slight curiosity. "And what would that be?"

"You were one of the people who activated the body discovery announcement." I told her. "What were you doing up so early? It played almost right after the morning announcement."

She smiled a little bit. "Oh? That. I am an early bird. I am used to waking up at around 5 in the morning. So waking up that early was no hassle at all. Well, while waiting for the morning announcement to play, I heard an explosion and came to investigate. Veronica and Jared were already on site."

They were? Well it's natural for Jared, but Veronica? "Thank you for your help."

She smiled warmly. "I am glad to help." She then walked away.

"Alright… next…" I looked around to see what I should investigate next. Then I remember that the track is pretty damaged. I walked over to the tracks that seemed to be damaged.

Veronica was already there, looking around. "This was definitely sabotaged…" She mumbled to herself with a frown.

"You think so?" I ask, a little unsure.

She jumped slightly before turning to me. "The bolts are loose, and some are even missing. And this wasn't like this a few days ago because I'm sure the roller coaster was used before." She trailed off as she went through the assortment of broken pieces. "There isn't much else here but…" She stuck her small hands into the pile and pulled out what appeared to be a black, red, and white fabric.

I was looking at it for a bit. "What's it made out of?"

"Some sort of rubber…" She frowned. "I can't tell what it is, though."

I thought for a moment. "It could still prove to be rather important." I glanced back into the pile and started rummaging around. Soon, my hand grabbed onto something. "Hmm?" I pulled the object out of the pile. It was a wrench. "Huh… Veronica…"

She glanced my direction. "What is it?" She was still going through the pile.

I showed her the wrench in my hands. "Is this what you lost?"

Her eyes almost gleamed with delight as she took it from me. "Yes!" She then soon realized the implications. "Does this mean my wrench did this?"

Katrine also frowned. "Yeah, but you aren't the main cause of this happening." She said in a reassuring tone.

"But had I not dropped it…" Veronica said.

I thought for a moment. "What makes you say you dropped it? Someone could ha-"

"I drop things a lot. Most of the times on accident. But I did drop a light on someone a year ago."

"Ah…" Was all I could say. Before I got too sidetracked, I asked my next question. "What were you doing here for the BDA?"

"Hmm? Oh! I got an anonymous tip that they had found it." She told me.

That sounds fishy. "And what happened?"

She thought back a little bit. "I was only out for about two minutes before Jared had stopped me asking what I was doing. We decided to search together after I told him. We were nearby the roller coaster around the time the crash happened. Funny story actually. We heard the roller coaster going…" She twiddled her thumbs. "We both thought it was nothing… that it just went on it's own."

Katrine looked at her. "Even if you knew what was happening, I don't think you would have been able to stop it."

"I might have been able to fix the track." She said.

Katrine shook her head. "You didn't even know it was tampered with till after."

Veronica looked down. "Yeah, you're right."

I think that's all the info we are going to get from her.

The next person of interest would be Rial. He arrived shortly after I did with some water. So he must have seen the fire long before I had. I walked over to him. "Hey Rial."

He was looking at the roller coaster before turning to look at me. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to know. You were also one of the first people here. You also ran over to the kitchen to grab some water." I told him.

He eyed me for a few seconds. "I heard an explosion and ran out to head to the kitchen. I didn't bother following Nila, who mustn't have even noticed me." He took a few seconds. Before I ran, however, I saw three other people outside, I told them to come with me to get water. A command that was useless in the long run since Katrine managed to extinguish it without our help." He said, bitterly.

She didn't say anything to that remark.

"Who were the people who you told to head to the kitchen?" I said, pressing forward.

He thought for a moment. "I believe Denise, Miranda, and Talia."

"Where are they now?" I asked him.

He answered pretty quickly. "At the kitchen, we spotted something there. So they most likely returned there." He looked away. "Which reminds me." He then left without saying much.

"Alright…" I trailed off. Next person to talk to… I spotted Ashton, who seemed to still be taking all of this in. I approached him to talk. "Hey, is everything alright?"

He didn't even look at me. "No, everything is not alright. Someone just died today." He seemed really uneasy.

"Well, maybe you should return to your cottage. You don't seem up to this." I suggested.

This only seemed to get him more mad. "What? And do nothing? We need to figure out who did th-"

Katrine frowned. "You are in no condition to investigate!"

This seemed to snap Ashton out of it. "You are right. I can't even keep myself calm. I'm sorry I wasn't useful this time." He said as he walked away.

I let out a sigh. This whole thing was going wrong. "Say… Katrine…"

She looked at me. "Yeah?"

"Earlier… when you were running towards the fire. You were completely confident that something would stop the fire." I said.

She nodded at me. "It always does stuff like that."

I let out another sigh. "But what if it hadn't?"

She frowned. "I believe in my luck as much as you believe in your God."

I decided not to pursue.

I saw Jeremy standing nearby the roller coaster. He looked deep in thought. I walked over to him to see what he was thinking about. "Hey, thinking of anything?"

He smiled upon seeing me. "Ah, someone has come to share thoughts."

"What kind of thoughts do you have?" I asked him.

He took a few more seconds, maybe to think more, or to formulate a sentence. "I want to see how long, time wise, this roller coaster is." He glanced over at the track. "The first time I rode i-"

"You rode it more than once?" Katrine asked him.

He went silent for a bit before continuing. "I wanted to see how long it took. Of course my calculations were very off, given that I was using my own time." He glanced away. "And I was screaming most of the time." He looked over, and pointed, at the slow rise that is at the start of the roller coaster. "That takes a while to get up. I'd say about two minutes alone for that. The rest should be about two to four minutes long." He crossed his arms.

"So the whole thing is about 6 minutes long…" I asked him.

"Probably." Was all he replied. Really helpful.

The last thing to check around here is… I glanced over at the crashed cart. This was most likely the source of the fire. Katrine and I walked over to it.

"Yeah… definitely the source." She crossed her arms. "It's burnt to a crisp…"

I nodded. "But one thing bugged me…"

She tilted her head at me. "What's that?"

If what I think happened, happened, I need to take a closer look at the lock mechanism…

"You don't need to do that." A voice came from behind. It was Veronica. "I'll check if it's been tampered with." She walked over to the cart and started fiddling around with the lock before sighing. "It was, but not enough to be noticed normally. It would mostly stay lock. It seemed to have failed at one point, however."

Katrine and I just listened to what she had to say.

She looked at both of us for a few seconds. "T-that's pretty much all I have to say!" And then she quickly left, her cheeks a little red.

"Alright…" I manage to say while she leaves.

"We should also check out the control room. Maybe there is something useful there…"

I nodded. "It would make sense, that's how you activate the roller coaster."

We both made our way over to the control room. No one else appeared to be in there at the moment.

"There doesn't appear to be much." Katrine frowned.

"No, but it's still worthwhile…"

Taking a look around the room again, I saw what appeared to be a pile of ashes. I approached it, a little confused. "Huh… what do you think this used to be?"

Katrine, with her infinite wisdom. "Something that's flammable"

"Thank you…" I mumbled. "But what would even be able to burn in here? This whole building is pretty much made of metal…"

"Well, we can figure that out another time. Maybe there is someone who knows what this is." Katrine said.

Yeah, the person who burnt it. "Well, we should also test the controls." I walked over there, but it was mostly just a bunch of buttons. "This is harder than I thought. I saw that it would just be a lever…"

Katrine shook her head. "As if a lever would be all there is to it. However…" She started looking at the control panel. "These aren't at all marked. I don't know how anyone would be able to figure this out."

I thought for a moment. "Maybe this will be a useful clue later."

She nodded. "Here's hoping. Where to next?"

Where to next? "I want to go talk with Jared. According to what Veronica said, he was with her for a bit. I want to make sure she's being honest."

"And also, maybe we can check the cameras."

She gave me a nod and we both left to the head to the Ultimate Officer Attraction, however, on the way…

We were approaching the center area of the park, the fountain, when we saw someone doing something strange.

Jerry was walking on the fountain wall surrounding the water. He noticed us and smiled. "Hello there friends! Isn't today another beautiful day?" He made no move to get off the fountain.

"Huh… Jerry… what are you doing?" I asked him.

He gave a thinking expression before shrugging. "I don't know."

"Shouldn't you also be investigating?" Katrine asked.

He gave a small nod, followed by a small frown. "I'm afraid I'll just get in the way."

"I'm sure that wouldn't be the case…" I told him.

He shook his head. "Trust me, I'm of more use here than anywhere else." He took one more step and slipped into the water.

"Right…" I mumbled.

Katrine ran over to the edge of the fountain. "Are you OK?"

"Peachy." He replied, sitting in the water. "Could be worst. I almost landed on this needle." He pulled out a needle from the water. "That would have been terrible luck."

"Wait, a needle?" I grabbed it from his hand, inspecting him. "It seems to be empty. But…" I glanced back over to the fountain. "What was it doing in there?"

"This just raises more questions as we go." Katrine added.

Jerry was still sitting in the water. "I don't need help by the way…"

"Oh… right!" I extended my arm and helped him get to his feet.

He smiled. "Thank you. Now hurry up and keep investigating. Meanwhile…" He then started walking around the fountain again.

"Right…" I left to head over to the Ultimate Officer Attraction.

Once inside, I could see Jared, fiddling with the control panel, obviously very frustrated. Matthew was standing behind him, watching him.

I approached Matthew. "Anything we need to know…?"

Matthew shook his head, stroking his chin. "We haven't found anything. I thought that these cameras here were capable of recording. But it seems not."

"No!" Jared said, somewhat angry. "These cameras are capable of recording! But the entire footage from last night is missing!"

"So…" Matthew started. "Someone must have deleted the footage."

Jared slammed his fist on the control panel, barely missing some buttons. "It's Monokuma! He can't have us knowing who the culprit is!"

Suddenly.

Bear.

"What?" Monokuma said, in an accused tone. "I would never do something like that!"

There was a few moments of silence.

"OK, maybe I might."

Jared was looking at him, hatred in his eyes. "Is this why you gave me this room? To give me the illusion that I could do something?"

Monokuma tilted his head quizzically. "I mean, probably. It would be such a despair induced thing to do. To tangle a bit of hope, just to take it away! Puhuhuhuhu!" And then he vanished.

I remained quiet for a bit. Before getting back to the business at hand. "Hey, Jared…"

He turned to look at me, more calm than he was earlier. "Yes?"

"I just want to confirm something. What did you do this morning before the death occurred." I looked away for a moment.

"My alibi?" He asked. "Very well. I was stationed here. However, I saw someone roaming around the park. It was Veronica. I went to investigate what she wanted. Apparently, she lost something, so I helped her look for it. We search the grounds and found ourselves near the roller coaster when the Jennifer was killed." He frowned.

I nodded. That pretty much went in line with what Veronica had already said. "Anything else?"

"Yes." He smiled. "Jennifer was roaming around the park before I had to go."

This really caught my attention. "Why didn't you go talk to her?"

He frowned slightly. "Because she had done so the previous nights too, and I had already spoken to her. Veronica was never out this early, so that, did catch my attention." He took a moment. "I don't know if Jennifer went back to her room or not. She might have gone to her room and someone went to get her. It's hard to determine."

I nodded again. "Thank you for the information."

Jared smiled back. "I am always here to help."

"I think we should go meet up with Rial now." Katrine told me.

I nodded to her. "Right, we don't want to leave him hanging…" We both left the Attraction and headed over to the cafeteria.

We entered the building, which seemed kinda empty.

"I think they are in the back." Katrine pointed out.

I glanced to where she was pointing. "There's a back area?"

Katrine frowned. "You are clueless." She walked over to the back area of the cafeteria, with me following her.

In the back, there was a sort of kitchen area. Denise, Miranda, Rial, and Talia were already there. And oddly, a strange case was on the counter.

Rial glanced over in our direction. "Finally, you show up."

"This is the group of people who went to get water buckets?" I asked.

"As you've noticed, they are all girls…" Rial pointed out.

I was about to point out how I didn't think that mattered, but I remained silent.

"Well, the cottages are somewhat soundproof, so it would be hard to hear an explosion. However, the girls cottages are much closer, so they might hear it faintly, while the guys, wouldn't. Which is why only two guys were at the scene."

"But, you aren't a-" I was about to say.

"Yes, I know that, but my cottage is also paired up with the girls, since it's an odd number of people, so I would be closer to it than the guys. Not to mention I was already awake." He pointed out.

"I was having a nice nap when it stirred me from my sleep." Talia said, arms crossed. "So naturally, I went outside to investigate what it was.

"Same with me…" Miranda said. "I was sleeping and heard the explosion happen."

Denise remained quiet, not wanting to say something that had already been said.

Rial looked over at me and Katrine. "The thing I find suspicious, is that only two girls were no show for a bit. Mindy… and you, Katrine." He sent her a glance. "Both of you seemingly didn't wake up for the loud noise. And I know for a fact, that you have a cottage closer them some of them."

"I-I'm a heavy sleeper!" She tried to defend herself.

I tried to change the subject quick. "Is that it?"

Talia glared at me. "If that was it, we would have had this conversation elsewhere. Don't tell me you haven't seen it here?"

Oh! Right. "I saw a case."

She let out a sigh. "Take a look…"

I approach the case to see what appeared to be a few needles. "What are these doing here?"

Talia shrugged. "The kitchen I worked in didn't have any, so this for sure isn't supposed to be here. So it's probably Monokuma's doing."

Denise took one of the needles out of the case. "Apparently it some sort of liquid that knocks the person out for a good thirty minutes. And it takes about fifteen minutes to activate."

"How do you know this?" I asked her, a little sceptical.

"Because I told them." Rial said, looking the other way. "I have experience with needles, so I was able to identify it right away."

"Not just that…" Denise added. "One of them is missing."

Missing. That's right… "Now is that all?"

Miranda nodded. "We haven't found much else here. The killer must have not left much stuff around."

I nodded and turned to Katrine. "There is one place left that I would like to check."

She nodded and we headed out. Once outside, she turned to look at me. "Where else do you want to go?"

"I want to check out Jennifer's cabin before we go anywhere else. I think there might be an important clue there." And also, I don't know where two of the other people here went after we had all gathered at the body.

Soon, we arrived at the cottages, and someone, was just roaming around outside.

"Mindy?" She turned to look at me.

"Yes? May I help you?" She had an unnerving smile.

This would be hard to talk to her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not one to investigate, so I decided to head back to the cottages."

Mindy said, looking the other way.

"But not investigating is worst." I told her.

She looked back at me. "Don't act like I haven't been doing anything."

This confused me for a moment. "So you have done something? What did you do?"

She gave a shrug with a smile. "It's not really relevant." She then walked away, done with this conversation.

"Well that was interesting…" Katrine mumbled.

"Right…" I glanced over at Jennifer's cabin. Oddly, the door was open. "Hey, her door is open…" I approach it slowly. I heard someone moving around in it. I slowly entered the room.

It was… Mason?

Mason was looking around her room, for one reason or another.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

He turned to look at me. "Just trying to see if anything was in her room."

I wait for him to elaborate but he doesn't say anything else. "Is… anything here?"

He shook his head. "Not anything interesting, at least. I found her clothes but I don't feel comfortable searching through those for something." He glanced at the door. "You are aware how the doors work here, right?"

"Yeah. They don't lock on their own." I said.

He nodded. "Exactly, when I got here, the door was locked."

"Which means…" Katrine trailed off.

"What's more, do you know how the keys work?" He asked.

I remained silent for a bit. Is he seriously asking me how a… "Of course I know how a key wor-"

He shook his head. "Not how a key works. How these ones work!"

Mason had lost me. "What does that mean…?"

"Toss me your key!" He called out with his left hand extended, ready to catch.

Reluctantly, I take out my key and toss it to him.

He catches it, but after a short while, a burning sound could be heard. "It's weird…" He said. "The keys seem to burn you if it's not your key." He tossed the key back to me, which I caught. He showed a burn mark on his left hand. "Anyone will know if you tried to sneak into someone's room."

I put my key back in my pocket. "How did you know this?"

He showed me his right hand. It also had a burn mark. "I tried to steal Denise's key. Didn't go well."

"So wait, if the door was locked…" Katrine trailed off. "How did you get in here?"

He thought for a moment. "I asked Monokuma to unlock the door."

"And he did?" I asked.

"No. Says he doesn't want to break into someone's room. So I had to improvise." He smiled.

Katrine seemed to realize what he meant quickly. "Are you saying you picked the lock?"

He seemed offended of such accusations. "What? No!" He paused for a few moments. "I got Mindy to do it." That explains what she was doing here.

Suddenly…

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

The screen in Jennifer's room lit up to reveal Monokuma. "Attention, attention, get down on the floor- Whoops! Let that slip by!" He laughed a little bit. "The investigation is now over! Let's hope you all figured out what happened, or you are in for some trouble! Now, please, everyone gather by the fountain. That's where the trial will be held!" The monitor then turned off.

.

I looked over at Katrine. "We should head over there now." I looked to see if Mason was still here, but he seemed to have already left.

We both left the cottages and headed to the fountain. Everyone else was already there.

"Alright…" Talia crossed her arms. "We are here. What now?"

"There doesn't appear to be anything here but a fountain…" Denise frowned.

Jerry hopped onto the wall of the fountain. "And some people who just like to throw out used things." There was a moment of silence. "But anyways, I saw a switch while I was in the water." He jumped back into the water and put his hands under it. After a while, he pulled on something, and the fountain started to shake. He jumped out, and soon, the fountain sank into the ground. Soon, what appeared to be an elevator came out of the ground.

"Are we supposed to go in there?" Veronica asked, taking a step back.

Matthew walked into the elevator and glanced around. "Probably…"

Hesitantly, everyone else entered the elevator.

Soon, it started to head down into the ground.

"I was not aware that the park had an underground portion." Nila said.

Ashton rubbed the back of his head. "Something tells me we weren't supposed to know till now."

"Let's make sure we don't fail this trial." Jared said. "Our lives edge on it."

The elevator continued on a little longer, before eventually stopping.

The doors opened to reveal to us, a room that looked like a courtroom of sorts. At the center, were 17 podiums. Although one of them contained a picture. It was a picture of Jennifer with red question marks over her face. We walked over to the podiums, noticing that they had our names etched into them.

In the back, there was a huge chair that I presumed was for Monokuma.

I stood in front of my podium, looking at everyone else. One of us has killed someone else.

_Several pictures appear_

_One of Miranda playing her violin_

_One of Jerry juggling._

_One of Jeremy waving casually._

_One of Mason smirking mischievously._

_One of Matthew stroking his chin._

This is something not easily forgiven…

_One of Veronica holding on tightly to a wrench._

_One of Denise lowering her sunglasses._

_One of Nila with her hands held close to her._

_One of Richard, looking off into the distance._

_One of Talia holding a tray, looking angry._

_One of Rial, looking at the ground._

No, I don't think this will ever be forgiven…

_One of Mindy, with an ice pick._

_One of Jared, adjusting his cap._

_One of Katrine, glancing away._

_One of Ashton, fist bumping himself._

_One of Gregory, looking determined._

I will solve this case!

.

.

.

Class Trial!

Commence!

.

.

.

"First things first." Jeremy smiled. "I think we should clear up the order everyone arrived at the roller coaster in."

Rial crossed his arms. "I think it would be much better if we figure out when people had woken up."

"You think?" Jeremy asked. "Alright, then let's start with that."

"I have been up all night." Jared started off. "I witnessed Jennifer roaming around early morning, I'd have to say the last I saw her was at 6:15. Then, I saw Veronica fifteen minutes later."

"Th-" Nila started to speak.

"And what were you doing?" Rial asked Veronica.

"I-I was searching for my wrench." She mumbled.

Rial kept his arms crossed. "When did you lose it?"

"Y-yesterday!" She seemed to be intimidated by Rial.

"I can cover for you." I smiled at her. "She was searching since last night. I had helped her in her search. But we never found anything. Then we left for dinner."

"Yup! Yup!" Jerry smiled. "I saw them enter while it was only me and Talia."

"Oooo! What were you two doing?" Mason grinned.

Talia sent him a glare. "I will stab you."

"Enough of this!" Rial seemed impatient. "Why did you wake up so early to go find your wrench?"

Veronica twiddles her thumbs. "W-well… I got an anonymous tip that they knew where it was. Someone had knocked on my door. It woke me up, and when I checked outside, they were gone."

"So then you went out in search of your missing wrench?" Matthew asked, stroking his chin. "Didn't this seem like a trap?"

"I had just woken up, I wasn't in the right mindset." She tried to explain herself.

"Did you ever find your wrench?" Mindy asked.

She looked the other way. "W-well… yes. I found it under a pile of broken tracks..."

Mindy thought for a moment. "What if that's been there since last night and you actually caused the roller coaster to collapse. And you are lying about that anonymous tip."

"W-w-w-w-what! No! I would' never do something like that!" She tried to defend herself.

"Enough!" Jared called out. "I think I would know for a fact if she was the one who did it. She was with me for about half an hour. She wouldn't have had any time to do any of that. So I am her alibi."

This seemed to shut up Mindy.

"This still requires for someone to bring her within your reach." Rial said. "If the cart crashed around the time you were there, then the culprit must have been really close by to you."

Mason coughed a few times. "I thought we were trying to figure out the order of everyone waking up."

"Right…" Rial frowned, hating the fact that he had to be set back on track.

Nila spoke up. "After Jared and Veronica. I would be the next one awake. I woke up at around 6:00, as I normally do."

"She also ran out before me." He added. "Then it was me, Denise, Miranda, and Talia. We went to the kitchen to get some water. In that time…"

"I woke up." I said. "I ran over to the source of the fire without even thinking about the kitchen."

"Then I woke up and put a stop to the fire." Katrine added.

"Finally…" Rial started to conclude. "Everyone else seemed to arrive."

Mason tilted his head. "Interesting, out of nine guys, only three really did any. Meanwhile, six out of the eight girls did something."

"Yeah…" I said. "The girls cottages are much closer to the roller coaster than the guys. So naturally, the girls heard it."

"I'm sure we would have also heard an explosion!" Ashton shouted.

Rial shook his head. "The cottages are actually kinda soundproof. I only faintly heard the explosion. You would most likely not hear it."

"So…" Mason trailed off. "What about Katrine and Mindy? They didn't seem to wake up because of it."

"Like I would check for an explosion." Mindy crossed her arms.

"A-and I'm a deep sleeper." Katrine tried to defend themselves.

"Let's not worry about that." Matthew said. "Let's worry about the roller coaster controls."

"Right!" I said. "Katrine and I went to investigate the control room, but we couldn't understand any of the controls. The labels were missing."

"Is there someone here who knows how to operate it?" Matthew asked, looking around.

Yes… there is someone.

"Jeremy…" I looked at him. "The day we all arrived here, we saw you exiting from the roller coaster. And you claimed to have done it yourself."

He put his hands up in defense. "You got me! I know how to operate the roller coaster."

"How did you do it?" Denise asked.

Jeremy seemed a little confused. "It's not like it's that hard. I simply followed the instructions posted on the wall."

Instructions…? "This is the first time I'm hearing of this."

He seemed even more confused. "What? But there were controls taped to the panel. It told me how various things."

What? This doesn't make sense. I know I didn't see any instructions in there. Wait a second…

"Katrine and I found some ashes in the control room, actually. Maybe whoever did this also burnt it up."

Matthew slowly nodded. "I think that clears up Jeremy."

"It does?" Jeremy himself asked in confusion.

"Yup." He continued stroking his chin. "If it was him, he wouldn't have burnt the instructions. That way he can say anyone could walk in and read the instructions. However, if it is him and he burns them, and no one finds out, the blame would be pointed at him."

"However." Rial interjected. "Gregory seemed to have found the ashes rather quickly. What makes you so sure Jeremy wouldn't have done that?"

"Because the boy doesn't appear very smart." Matthew pointed out.

"I take offence to that." Jeremy said, in a very calm, and clearly not offended, voice.

"I find this event entirely trivial." Jerry spoke up. "Let's concentrate on other things."

Richard nodded. "Right. We should be worrying about the condition we found Jennifer in. She clearly fell from the cart."

"Yes." Veronica agreed. "The cart had also been sabotaged, so the lock mechanism sent her flying when the cart fell."

Richard nodded at what Veronica said. "Not only that, she also had a small hole in her right shoulder."

Rial glanced over at Richard. "That is probably from a needle. But we never found the one that was use-"

Suddenly, Jerry interjected. "You mean this needle?" He took it out of his pocket.

A lot of us just stared at him in silence.

"What? I made sure it's safe!" He tossed it in the air, and caught it while making sure to avoid the dangerous part. "I'm a juggler! Calm down! But yes, I found this in the fountain. It seemed that someone was trying to get rid of it, and failed poorly."

"Whoever this is," Talia started. "Did rather poorly. They even left the needles in the kitchen."

Miranda smiled. "They probably thought we'd never check there since it's so far away."

"Their first, and fortunately not last, mistake." Rial said.

"What was in the needle?" Richard asked. "I need to figure out how it would affect her."

Rial shook his head. "No need to. The liquids inside the needle would take about fifteen minutes to activate. And then would affect her for approximately thirty minutes. Ample amount of time to waste away with her."

"That is still a rather short time frame." Jared pointed out. "I was with Veronica for about half an hour! They had fifteen minutes already wasted waiting for the liquids to take effect! They must also transport her to the roller coaster. Not only that! But they must also sabotage the roller coaster! Highly unbelievable!"

"Maybe if you did your job and watched better, we wouldn't be in this situation!" Mindy countered.

Jared looked over at Mindy, but couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Thought so." She frowned.

"They must have had their entire plan already planned out. Calculated." Katrine said.

"Ooooor!" Mason started up. "They got extremely lucky!"

"W-what are you implying!" Katrine asked.

"Oh please!" He looked at her. "You could have gotten very lucky with all of this!"

Matthew, seemingly wanted to move the conversation away from that, looked at Jared. "How long did you two spend at the roller coaster?"

"Only about six minutes. Why?"

"Then that should be enough time for some sabotage…" Matthew said.

Jared seemed a little angry. "That is only ten minutes at best!"

Matthew looked over at him. "Do you doubt what I say? And it would be more than that. The cottages have a blind spot in the cameras!"

He went to say something but didn't.

Matthew stroked his chin. "You can take that silence as a yes. The cottages do indeed have a blind spot."

"Why would you keep that a secret?" Talia glared angrily at Jared.

"Because people would take advantage of it. A place away from my gaze?" He frowned. He glanced over at Matthew, looking to say something, but didn't.

"So all we have to do is figure out who could have known about it." Mason smiled. "Easy as pie."

"Yes, yes." Matthew nodded. "When we went to explore the new buildings, the one that went to that attraction was… Ashton, Gregory, Jared, Jennifer, and me."

Mason tilted his head. "So is this our five suspects?"

I'd rather not be one, but the logic so far as been sound. "It seems so."

"I don't want to be a suspect! 'Cause I didn't do it." Ashton said.

Mason let out a sigh. "It doesn't mean you did or didn't do it. It just means you have to prove it wasn't you."

"Are we sure there aren't any other people who went to the attraction?" I asked.

Mason shrugged. "They could have, but we have no way to prove it at the moment."

"Well that doesn't help one bit." Rial said. "Anyone could have given it a visit while Jared wasn't there. He would eventually have to leave to go eat and do other stuff."

"It is true that I left several times each day. While I was gone, someone could have entered the control room so I wouldn't know." He frowned.

"So we mustn't limit ourselves to simply those people." Rial said, looking at everyone. "The culprit could be someone else."

"What makes you so sure that the blind spots were even used?" Talia asked.

Matthew sent her a glance. "Because then Jared would have noticed an event happening before he went to see Veronica."

An event? What is he talking about?

"Are you referring to the knock at Veronica's door?" I asked.

He nodded. "The killer wouldn't do that unless they knew it was a blind spot."

"But what makes you think the person who gave the tip is even the killer?" Miranda asked.

Matthew thought for a moment. "Well think of it like this. If the killer did give the tip. Why would they do it?"

The reason behind giving the tip?

"Probably to lure Jared out…" I said. "If Jared saw someone roaming around this early. He might be inclined to go investigate."

Mason looked over at him. "Why not just stay in the room and see what she does?"

He fell silent for a moment. "I had to see what she was doing. It's my job to make sure nothing happens to anyone. I can't do my job sitting down in a chair."

"You also didn't need to help her find her wrench." Mason pointed out.

Jared frowned at him. "No, I didn't. But I couldn't just leave her there. So I decided to help."

Mindy glanced the other way. "But because of you, someone died."

"I-I-I know that! OK! You don't have to keep bringing it up. I can't protect everyone!" He looked down, clenching his fist.

Hmm… "Let's forget about that. Whose house is in the blind spot?" I asked.

Jared thought for a moment. "It's about at the halfway point… So I think it was Veronica, Mindy, Rial, Katrine, Richard, and Ashton. Why do you ask?"

"Jennifer's room wasn't in there?"

He shook his head. "Her room is the far left."

Well that clears up a few things… "I think we should figure out if she went back to her room or not."

Matthew looked at me. "Does it really matter?"

"It does." Mason said. "If she did, it's more likely that the culprit did it after Veronica left and was spotted by Jared. It also means that they probably locked her door."

"What does locking the doors have to do with anything?" He asked.

I decided to answer this one. "You can't hold onto someone else's key. Mason showed me that it burns your hand until you drop it."

"Interesting…" He mumbled.

"Buuut!" Mason continued. "If she didn't return to her room, the killer wouldn't need to worry about the cameras. You also said the last time you saw her was about 6:15, right?"

Jared nodded.

"Alright." Mason didn't seem to want to elaborate on that.

"Huh… Mason? Are you going to elaborate on that?" I asked.

He tilted his head quizzically. "Nope."

Lovely.

"Let's not worry about that right now…" Matthew mumbled. "We should worry once again about the time that Jared and Veronica spent at the roller coaster. If the two were there, it would be hard for the killer to get out of there with them nearby."

"Who said they even had to be there when they arrived?" Jeremy asked.

"The fact that we were there for six minutes, and you said that the ride took about five." Jared said.

He crossed his arms. "I did say the ride took five minutes. But that doesn't really matter in the long run. The roller coaster could have been set up whenever."

What does he mean? "Could you elaborate?"

He smiled at me. "I'm talking about setting the roller coaster on a timer."

A timer?

"And you didn't think to tell us before." Jared frowned.

"I didn't think it was relevant."

"T-that is highly relevant!" Katrine yelled out. "At all times!"

Richard let out a sigh. "It means we've been thinking about this a little wrong. And, it opens up more possibilities…"

It does open up a little more possibilities. But the implications aren't good…

.

.

.

Class Trial!

Intermission!

.

.

.

"What does this really add?" Nila asked.

Rial looked the other way. "The roller coaster could have been set to go much earlier, so the culprit could leave long before Jared and Veronica arrived."

Miranda looked over at Jeremy. "How long can you make the timer."

He laughed a little. "The limit is actually insane. You can input five numbers. Two for the seconds, and three for the minutes. You can pretty much put nine in all of them."

Richard closed his eyes and began to think. "That should be about sixteen to seventeen hours. That is, rather excessive."

"Very…" Talia mumbled. "So that means they don't have to worry about starting the roller coaster. But that doesn't save them any time. They still have to sabotage the cart. And they also need to place Jennifer into the cart. As well as let the fifteen minutes pass to make sure she is actually passed out."

"That's still only like ten minutes to sabotage the roller coaster…." Miranda mumbled. "And to carry Jennifer depending on where she was. I doubt she went to roller coaster on her own accord."

"One of the key factors is to figure out when Jennifer was injected with the liquids from the needle." Mason said. "If we can figure that out, we can figure out the rest of the mystery."

Jerry tilted his head. "But that's easier said than done."

Miranda nodded. "We don't know when she would have be-"

"Think with your goddamn heads!" Mason yelled out harshly. "We first must figure out the time frame that she could have possible been injected!" He turned to me. "Hey, you. I'll let you handle this one."

I was taken aback slightly. "W-what? Why me!"

"Because I said so!" He smirked to himself.

What would be a reasonable time frame…?

"Well, 6:15 to at least 6:30, about." I said. "She could have been drugged the moment Jared lost sight of her, and it would still fit inside the 30 minute knockout gap, so I doubt she would wake up again. As for the other end, she would need to have 15 minutes to be knocked out, but still leave some time for them to get to the roller coaster and sabotage it."

"Exactly, we have to consider they couldn't sabotage the roller coaster with her conscious. So we need to think more rationally."

Mason said. "Since Jared said he left the cameras at around 6:30. There is some more implications to that time frame."

I stopped for a moment. "Yeah, we went over the blind spots."

He smirked. "Yes. We did. That isn't what I'm implying."

Denise looked at him. "Then what are you implying?"

He stared at her for a bit. "I don't really know. You tell me. What would happen if someone tried injected you with a something?"

"I would call for help..." I said.

He nodded.

Denise frowned. "I think I know what are you are implying."

"Where is that blind spot?" He asked.

"At the cottages…" This isn't good…

Matthew started to think too. "Well that would mean…"

That would mean…. That would mean…

"It didn't happen at the blind spot. Jennifer would have screamed for help, and someone would have heard. Nila was up around that time, and I'm sure Rial would have been too."

"I heard no such screaming anyways." Rial looked the other way.

"And I did not hear anything either. This morning was very quiet." Nila said.

Veronica frowned. She knew exactly where this was going.

"So, with all that evidence, we can pretty much determine who it is." Mason smirked.

"W-we can't decide that now!" Veronica yelled out.

He looked at me. "Who do you think is the only person who would be capable to do this?"

The only person who could have gotten to Jennifer and not alerted anyone is…

"Jared…" I looked at him.

"What?" He seemed caught off guard. "Are you seriously accusing me of murder?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense at the moment!" Talia yelled out. "So you better start explaining yourself!"

Richard looked the other way. "You would have caught anyone doing anything. You would have had all the time in the world to sabotage the roller coaster…" He frowned. "There's a lot of evidence…"

"B-b-but!" Jared tried to say. "I didn't do it! You have to believe me! I would never do something like that!"

"Then we will keep presenting evidence until you confess." Mason said.

"You would know Jennifer was always out of her room." Denise crossed her arms. "So it would be easy to get her. You'd just have to see her roaming around."

"And you could lure Veronica out to give yourself an alibi!" Mindy pointed out.

Denise crossed her arms. "You would also be aware of the blind spots so that you can use that has an excuse later to why you couldn't see."

"This all fits too well." Rial pointed out. "So please, confess while we are doing this nicely."

"I didn't do it! I was with Veronica the whole time!" He frowned heavily, clutching his fist. "This is all set up to make me look bad! This isn't concrete proof!"

Katrine looked down at the ground. "Actually, there is something that might be concrete proof."

"There was?" I asked her.

"You don't remember?" She frowned.

What did we even find that would be evidence against Jared?

"Are you referring to the bit of fabric we found?" I asked.

She slowly nodded.

"What fabric?" Jared asked.

I remembered back to when we found the fabric. "It was, black, red, and white…"

"I don't wear any of those colours! So that's not mine!" He countered.

I… I don't want to do any of this. "That's wrong…"

He seemed to be getting even more mad. "Wrong?"

He does have an article of clothing that would fit one of these colours…

"Your gloves…" I mumbled.

He took a glance at his own gloves.

Mindy tilted their head. "Well, they are white."

"But you said it was black and red, too." He pointed out.

"Exactly!" Veronica defended him.

Rial crossed his arms. "Those two colours can be explained, rather easily, given the circumstances…"

Right… Those two can be explained easily. Let's start with red.

"The red is blood…" I pointed out. "Somehow you got hurt and it sprayed blood on them."

"Very messy." Jerry frowned.

Veronica was shaking her head. "It can't be him!"

Mason smirked. "That means the person should still have an injury on their hand! Take off your gloves, Jared."

He shook his head. "I am not removing my gloves.

"This isn't looking good for you, asshat." Talia crossed her arms.

Jared was glaring at me. It made me feel terrible, but… we had to do this. "And what of the black?"

The black?

"The fire…" Is all I said.

Katrine frowned. "Must have gotten slightly burnt up in the fire…"

"Then how didn't it completely burn?" Veronica asked.

Richard frowned. "Depends where you found it…"

"U-under all the roller coaster pieces…" She said shyly.

Richard shook his head. "Then it's possible that one of the pieces stopped the fire. The metal shouldn't spread the fire…"

"I'm sorry…" Miranda said, sadly. "But the evidence all points to you."

It really does. There is no denying it. Everyone else continued talking, but, it was all background noise. Is it really him? The man that said he would protect us. The one that has clearly been about stopping anything from happening. How could he turn on us like him. I guess this is what you would call some sort of cruel irony. The protector becomes the enemy… I glanced around at everyone else, but someone caught my eye.

Veronica was looking at me with a frown. "It can't possibly be him…"

I stared at her for a few seconds. No one else seemed to notice the conversation we were having. "But, all the evidence points to him."

"T-there as to be something. Why can't you believe him?" She kept her frown.

Believe in him… I really want to believe in him. I'm all about believing in people. But… I also can't deny facts, as much as I want to.

"Please… believe in him. He doesn't seem like the type to do this…" She said.

"I don't know if there's anything to prove his innocence…" I replied.

She frowned angrily. "T-t-then find something! There must be something that doesn't add up. Look at the clues we both found at the roller coaster! Read the Monokuma File again! I don't know!"

Right… maybe I just need to think back through the evidence I found…

Wait a second… something was never specified… "Hey Monokuma."

For the first time in this class trial, Monokuma tilted his head and spoke "Yes?"

"The Monokuma File, does it specify all injuries gotten because of the culprit?" I asked.

He thought for a moment. "Yes, it wouldn't be fair if it wasn't in there. You guys aren't doctors!"

In that case…

"Richard." I looked at him.

He glanced my direction. "Yes?"

"You said Jennifer had what appeared to be a broken arm?" I asked.

He nodded at me. "And the arm seemed more burnt then the other ones."

If it wasn't in the Monokuma File, then… it had to have gotten broken…

"I think that that injury was acquired before the murder took place." I said. Then… I realized something. She was almost always clutching her left arm… One way or another. As it been like that the whole time? "She was always holding her left arm! She must have had it injured before it!"

Richard thought for a moment. "Yes, that makes sense. I couldn't tell when it broke because I don't have any equipment at my disposal."

"What are you getting at?" Rial sent me a glare.

"Well, it all depends on how broken her arm was…" I said.

"How broken do you think it was?" Jerry asked.

"Well…" I trailed off. "Richard said that it was somewhat more burnt than the other one. So I assume that those burn marks were also there. We never saw her full arm because of her clothes."

Rial nodded. "If a burn is too strong, it has the chance of burning the nerve completely, rendering them useless."

"In other words…" Katrine trailed off.

Rial nodded. "She wouldn't be able to feel a thing."

"Exactly!" I replied. "And the same arm also had the small hole from the needle. I think it's not too hard to believe that maybe the culprit knew about it, and used it to their advantage."

"So, should we take into account the blind spots?" Mindy asked.

Jeremy thought for a few moments. "It once again all depends when the person was injected." He pointed out.

The sniper crossed his arms. "I'm sure we already established it would be between 6:15 and 6:30. So Jared would have seen it."

"Jared!" Mindy called out, looking at him. "How observant where you with cameras. How good is your peripheral vision?"

He thought for a moment. "I'm very observant, so I doubt that anything could have slipped me."

"So, Mindy, what you are saying is that it's someone from the blind spot?" Richard asked.

She gave a nod. "It would only make sense. Veronica, Rial, Katrine, Richard, and Ashton! You are all suspects!"

"Hey!" Ashton called out. "I'm pretty sure you were also in the blind spot!"

She shrugged. "You must have been hearing things."

"We can scratch off Veronica." Jared said. "She was with me the entire time."

Also, she really defended you there… "Alright. That gives us five suspects to work with." Unless, the suspect we are looking for isn't one of them.

"Oo!" Mason exclaimed. "Can you appoint me head interrogator?"

Denise looked at him. "That would end badly."

"Aww, you know me so well." He smiled innocently.

"How exactly can we figure out which one of them is the culprit?" Miranda asked.

"Well…" Matthew started. "Katrine and Mindy both apparently didn't go checked the explosion. So we can start there."

"I'm a heavy sleeper!" Katrine said.

Mindy shrugged. "And I didn't care to investigate."

"That's not good evidence." Jared frowned.

She looked at him, annoyed. "Well that's pretty much all I have. Why would I even bring up the people in the blind spot as the culprit if I were the blackened? That would just lead to my demise."

Matthew started to stroke his chin. "She brings up a fascinating point. Why would she?"

"We can't let that be evidence enough!" Ashton yelled out. "She could be trying to use that as means to get off the suspect list."

"Hey." She looked at him. "You went to the security room to. So this looks even worse for you!"

"Guys, guys." Mason smiled. "Maybe the culprit just had _**luck**_ on their side?" He smirked.

Katrine looked over at him. "Hey! Leave me alone already!"

"But think of it! She could have gotten lucky and not known about the blind spot! And also about the whole arm thing." He brought up. "See, very convenient for her."

Rial looked at the ground. "These are all very valid reasons for why they could have done it."

Mindy tilted her head a little bit. "You are also a suspect. You live in the blindspot."

He sent her a glare. "I don't kill whoever I please. And so far, your only argument is that I was in the blind spot. Clearly, everyone else has more to it than what I have."

"You were pretty quick about getting water." Jeremy pointed out. Rial glared at him. "I will go back to not talking."

"Can't forget about good old cold and distant Richard." Mason said with glee.

He glanced over at him. "Yes?"

"You could have seen that her arm was broken from a mile away." He smirked.

Richard didn't seem phased. "The evidence about the arm being broken was given to you guys by me. Why would I give you that evidence if I were the killer."

"That's also a valid point." Matthew said. "I'm sure anyone with solid observation could notice it."

"Which brings us back to Rial." Mindy said.

He simply let out a sigh. "You won't leave me alone, won't you?"

"Nope!" She smiled.

"I think we learned something important." Mason said with a smile.

"What's that?" I asked.

He put his hands behind his head. "That everyone has weak arguments."

"Lovely." Mindy deadpanned. "This isn't going anywhere." She crossed her arms.

"There has to be some evidence that will point us into the right direction." Miranda said.

Is there even something like that?

"Well, what about using evidence that was used against someone else?" Jeremy said with a smile.

I think there was something like that…

That's right! The fabric, if it isn't Jared's, then who does it belong to?

"The fabric must have belonged to someone else." I said.

"And who is that?" Mason crossed his arms.

I looked at the culprit. "Richard…"

He looked at me with disdain. "What are you talking about?"

Ashton glanced as his hands. "Yeah! He doesn't wear gloves".

Talia facepalmed. "God, he does. The first few days he was wearing them. Trust me, my memory is pretty good."

"Why would I ever wear gloves." Richard asked, seemingly annoyed.

Rial crossed his arms. "You are a vet. I'm sure it's an obligation."

"And also, like I said, my memory is pretty fucking perfect!" Talia yelled out.

"You said pretty good." He tilted his head slightly. "And what about the whole security room thing? Jared didn't mention it until later. And by that point, he was almost always in it. Jared, did you ever see me there."

He went silent for a moment. "No, no I did not."

Richard then crossed his arms. "Exactly. And we would have no reason to check it out early."

"No, you would." I said. "Because I told you about it. And your response was…"

.

_He glanced over at me and shook his head. "Not anything out of the ordinary. What did you find at the other attraction?"_

"_Oh, it belonged to Jared, and it's basically a sort of security room. You can keep watch over the whole park." I informed him._

_He pondered this for a few moments. "That is rather interesting. Might make his job easier. I should check it out in a few minutes."_

.

"So, you would have had reasons to check it out early." I continued.

Richard shook his head. "I ended up not going to check it out."

"Also!" Mason butted in. "There's still the whole arm thing. Like I said, you would have noticed it a mile away. It's your job!"

He glared at him. "Like I said, that information that I gave helped advance the case. Why would I divulge such incriminating evidence if I was the killer?"

Matthew slowly started nodding and stroking his chin. "Once again, he brings up a valid point."

This is going nowhere! I need to find one last piece of evidence!

"Going back to the gloves." I said. "There was blood on the glove. Meaning whoever it belongs to got hurt and was bleeding. Show us your hand."

He shrugged and lifted his right hand. It was scratchless.

Rial rolled his eyes. "And the other?"

Richard didn't move.

"Huh… Richard…" Miranda frowned. "Are you going to show us your other hand?"

He once again, said nothing.

"Richard!" Jared yelled at him. "Show us your other hand!" He ordered.

He kept his silence, crossing his hands, but not showing them.

"I think vet boy knows he's caught!" Mason said. "Trial, adjourned!"

Miranda kept her frown. "Please tell me it's not you."

Richard let out a sigh before showing his hand, which was injured, but it was barely visible, so clearly he tried his best to find it.

"You know…" Denise looked around. "Why didn't we just lead with the hand thing?"

"Because then this would have been a short trial!" Matthew said. "This whole thing gave me a lot of ideas… yes yes…" He nodded to himself.

"Why did you do it?" Mason asked, a little more serious.

Richard thought for a moment. "Because I was sure I would be able to get away with it flawlessly. I thought of all the possibilities. The only two errors were me losing my glove and accidentally giving out info because I got too deep into the moment." He crossed his arms. "I simply valued my survival over all of yours. So yes, it was a dick move."

"Why did you kill Jennifer, specifically?" Jared asked.

He sighed. "Because of the whole arm thing. It seemed like the easiest way. I got her and basically spent the time talking to her and eventually she got to weak to stand. So I placed her down and delivered the message to Veronica about the wrench. Then a few moments, I left to go to the roller coaster. I did what it said, and then burnt the instructions. I didn't plan on someone else having already used it before."

"So, did you only kill to get out, or did the question intrigue you?" Mindy asked.

Richard shrugged. "I could care less about some question. I was trying to escape."

"Don't care about my answers?" Monokuma asked. "That's not very nice! I only have so many of those to go around."

"Shut up." Richard glared at him. "It's nothing personal, but I didn't want to let one of you kill me first."

"Totally justifiable." Mindy said.

"What!" Ashton shouted out. "No it's not!"

"It's a kill or be killed lifestyle." She said coldly before smiling again. "So you have to do what you have to do."

"That doesn't justify murder!" Jared countered.

Rial crossed his arms. "What happened, happened. He will received the punishment for what he has done."

Richard looked away.

"Wait!" Monokuma yelled out. "This isn't over yet! He still has to ask me his one question!"

He crossed his arms. "I have no questions to ask."

"That's boring! Ask one now!" He demanded.

Richard seemed aggravated. "Fine! What was Jennifer's talent?"

"Yeah!" Mason agreed. "The way you said it, make it sound like she did know her talent, and meaning you probably did too!"

"Oh? That? She was going to become the Ultimate T- Wait! Not so fast! I almost fell right into that little trap!" The bear said.

Mason tilted his head. "What trap?"

Monokuma went silent for a bit. "I don't know, but I won't reveal my hand! You wasted your one question on something I couldn't possibly hope to answer. What a pitiful existance. Well, we should probably move on to the execution."

Richard let out a small sigh. "Just get it over with…"

"I've prepared a very special punishment for Richard Dier, the Ultimate Veterinarian!"

He looked down, his expression was mostly neutral, but I could faintly see that he was scared.

"Let's give it everything we've got! IT'S... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"

**Richard Dier has been found guilty! Time for punishment.**

.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a colar grabbed Richard by the neck, dragging him off into the darkness that was a doorway. It remained dark for a little while, until, a blinding light could be seen. It took a while to get used to it. But soon, he could see what was happening around him. Or more so, where he was. He seemed to be locked up behind bars, but further inspection showed that that wasn't the full truth. He was locked up, yes, but not in a jail cell. Instead, a crate of sorts. Like one you would put a cat in for transportation. As soon as he realized the fact, the cage moved violently as someone moved it. After a few seconds, it stopped, and the cage door was opened. Richard saw this as his chance to escape, but a hand quickly grabbed him. The hand belonged to a rather large Monokuma. In his free hand, he was holding what appeared to be a needle. It was time, to be euthanized. Richard knew what this meant and tried his best to struggle. The needle was getting every close, but he managed to break free from his grasp as he ran off. Not to far though, as Monokuma slammed his fist down on his side, breaking his arm and severely injuring his leg. The poor thing, now he really had a reason to be euthanized. With little to no effort, Monokuma injected Richard with the contents of the needles. Effortlessly, he tried to crawl away, despite death looming over him. The more he crawled away, the more his vision faded. And soon, it faded completely, leaving nothing.

.

Everyone just kinda stood there as we watched Richard get killed. It's not like we could do anything anyways. We were blocked off, forced to watch in the horror that happened in front of us.

"Wasn't that exciting?" Monokuma asked.

"That was sick!" Jared replied, angry.

He laughed. "It wasn't for me."

Katrine looked like she was about to puke at what she just witnessed.

Veronica had her eyes closed, with tears on her cheek.

Everyone seemed mostly disturbed. Except people like Mason, who seemed to watch with such content. Mindy didn't seem to care. Matthew was jotting something down on some paper. Jeremy simply yawned. And then there was Rial...

"Let this be a warning." He said, looking at everyone else. He didn't seem bothered by witnessing someone die. "Anyone else who attempts to kill someone, will end up just like that. You have been warned." He turned around and walked away.

Soon, one by one we all left the place and got back onto the elevator. This was a grim reminder of where we were. No one seemed to be coming to our rescue, ever.

.

.

.

It was late at night, and I was roaming around. Jared had also gone to bed. After that display of horror, it was unlikely that someone was going to kill so soon. I had gone to get some food, but quickly remembered that it was closed at nighttime. I let out a sigh and headed back over to the cottages. On my way, I did spot someone, however.

Veronica was sitting down, looking at the stars.

I let out a sigh and sat down next to her. "Hey…"

She didn't look at me. "Hey." She replied back.

"Why were you so certain it wasn't Jared?" I asked her.

It was her turn to let out a small sigh. "He reminded me of my father. He was also a cop. So it felt like accusing my dad of murder, and it just felt so wrong."

I looked up at the stars. "Well, thank you for saying something. We would have gotten the wrong person had you not motivated me to try and find another possibility."

She hugged her knees. "Yeah, but it was stupid. I could have been wrong."

I shook my head. "But you weren't." I smiled. "You saved us." I looked at the moon, which was resting above us, giving me a good indication of the time. "We should probably head to bed now." I said as I got up.

Veronica slowly nodded. "You are right."

We both walked back to the cottages.


	4. Chapter 2: Opposites Attract-Daily Life

It was the day after Jennifer and Richard had both died. Everyone had gathered at the cafeteria, even Jared, who was normally at his Ultimate attraction. Well, everyone but Jerry, who seemed to be absent at the moment. No one really said anything. They all just silently ate. I can't say much, since I didn't want to talk either. It wasn't until someone sighed and stood up.

It was Ashton. "I know what happened yesterday was awful. It's the worst thing I've ever witnessed in my life. But I don't think we should stay silent like this. It will only make us more tense around people." He looked around at everyone. "I think we should keep talking to each other. No more being distant."

Miranda nodded. "I agree, the tension here has been awful, and I feel like some of us just need to be able to talk."

Talia frowned. "The silence was actually really refreshing. I'd like to keep it like that."

"Don't be such a bummer, Talia." Jeremy said.

She simply roll her eyes, annoyed.

"But what is there to even talk about?" Veronica asked, hugging her knees while sitting on her chair.

"There's plenty of conversations to be had." Matthew replied, taking a bite out of some eggs.

"Oo! Oo!" Mason exclaimed.

Denise sighed. "You sound like a monkey."

Ignoring that, he continued. "Let's trash talk someone!"

"Absolutely not!" Jared glared at him, "We are not trash talking anyone that is here."

Mason was thinking for a few seconds. "We can trash talk Monokuma!" He suggested.

"No." Said a voice that belonged to Monokuma, who was sitting beside Katrine, who hadn't even realized he was there. "I'm here, so you are going to have to find someone else!" He took a bite from the bacon he had.

Everyone was silently staring at Monokuma.

"Hmm…" Mason kept thinking. "Oh! Right! Let's talk trash Jerry!"

"Yeah! Let's do that!" A voice came from the door to the cafeteria. It was Jerry.

Mason and him kinda just stared at each other for a few seconds. "Jerry's shit."

Jared stood up. "Where have you been?"

"I have good news, and bad news." He smiled.

"Ooh! What's the bad news?" Mindy asked.

He thought for a moment on how to phrase it. "The bad news is there was no way to escape from the new area."

"There's a new area?" Denise asked.

"Shit, I should have led with the good news." Jerry said. "But yes, it's also theme differently."

"What was the theme?" Katrine asked.

He smiled a little. "It was a water theme."

Water theme? "I'm sure Jeremy would love tha-" I turned to look at him, but he was long gone. "Or he could already be halfway there."

"Let's go everyone!" Jerry said as he left the building.

.

.

.

We soon all made it to the gate that led to the new area. Then I remembered something, this is where I had encountered Jennifer for the first time. The smell of chlorine was pretty strong here.

Jared turned to look at everyone. "Alright, we should all explore a bit to familiarize ourselves with the new area. No wandering to far, alright?"

"There's fucking walls all around the place, how far do you think we'll be able to get?"

He remained silent for a few seconds. "You know what I mean."

Soon after, everyone dispersed, leaving me to explore the place.

The first area I went to explore was the pool, since that should be the first place you explore. Walking there, I saw three people. Mason, Matthew, and Rial. I walked over to the group. The first two were already wearing swimsuits and were chilling in the pool.

Mason saw me and waved me over. "Come on in! The water's fine!"

I shook my head. "I have to explore some more. Say, where did you get the swimsuits?"

Matthew answered this question. "We found them in the changing rooms. It was my idea to check there. Ashton should still be there."

I nodded with a smile. "Well, maybe after I'm done exploring, I can take a dip in the pool."

"Speaking of people taking a dip in the pool." Mason said, getting out of the water. "You should also join in, Rial!"

He looked at him. "I'd rather not." He looked the other way.

Mason frowned before taking a step towards him. "Hey, come on, it's not that bad!" He grabbed his scarf.

In a quick flash, Rial had grabbed his wrist, and seemed to be squeezing it. "Never touch me, or try and remove my scarf. You wouldn't want to lose your hand." He glared.

Mason quickly backed away. "Woah, too intense for me!" He walked over to the pool and jumped back in.

I was looking at Rial. He's terrifying. I… better move on...

I headed over to one of the change rooms, since it was still worth exploring.

Ashton was just walking out as I walked in. "Oh hey man!" He smiled at me.

I waved at him. "Hey. I see you are going to try out the pool."

"Yeah! I think a new area is just what we needed to raise our moods a little bit. There were also some really cool Ultimate Attractions around here."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about those. We don't really talk about Katrine's, and Jared's doesn't really feel like an Ultimate Attraction." I replied.

He let out a laugh. "Pretty much. The one I checked out was really nice. Although I advise you check it out before you head to the pool. If you did it the other way, it would be a bad combo." He waved and left.

I waved back before walking into the changing room. I looked around the place. The area had some lockers. On a closer inspection, they seemed to have names on them. Our names, to be precise. I looked over at them, but something seemed to intrigue me. One was mi-

Ashton ran back in. "I forgot a towel!" He called out. He ran past me and grabbed a towel from the locker that was his. He then left.

Him suddenly barging in made me lose my train of thought. I looked around the room more. There seemed to be a shower room. Besides that, there didn't seem to be anything else, so I left.

I continued walking until I stumbled upon a weird looking building. As I got closer, the air seemed to get colder. I made my way to the door of the building and placed my hand on the door knob. It was almost frozen solid. I slowly turned it, and entered the building.

Upon entering it, I was struck by even more cold air. Why did the building need to be this cold? I started walking down the hallway until I reached a door. I opened that one and entered the new room. On the other side, there were several blocks of ice. This made me realize that this was probably an Ultimate Attraction. Mindy's to be precise. I looked around the room and soon spotted her with Nila.

She was already getting to work on one of the ice cubes. She soon noticed me. "Oh, hi Gregory." She smiled at me. "I'm just working on a work of art."

Nila turned towards me and waved. "Hello." She smiled. Her and Mindy didn't seem to mind the cold.

"Aren't you two cold?" I asked.

Mindy shrugged. "I'm used to the coldness."

"And I don't really feel any kind of pain." Nila answered me. I don't want to know why.

I looked around the room. There were some vents, which was obviously were the cold air was coming from. There were also some pipes on the ceiling. The next thing I noticed was a small valve on one of the pipes. I looked back over at Mindy. "Something tells me you will spend a lot of time here."

She nodded. "I want to see if I can make one for everyone. Nila's the first one here."

She nodded. "So what do I have to do?"

"Stay still." She replied.

She froze for a moment. "What? For how long?"

Mindy thought for a few moments. "An hour or two."

"But it is so cold!" Nila complained.

"I thought you couldn't feel pain." Mindy said, taking a chunk of ice out of the cube.

I watched the two of them talk before I decide to take my leave.

The next area I stumble upon was another pool area. This one was bigger, and had waves? "What's the point of the other pool, then?" I asked myself.

"Oh? That?" Jeremy asked, walking up to me. "It's my Ultimate Attraction."

I looked back at the bigger pool and nodded. "That, does make a lot of sense."

"It's pretty great, actually." He said stepping towards the water. "It feels like maybe we aren't trapped forever. Except we are and the inevitability of death will soon incase us all."

We both went silent for a second.

"I'm only messing with you!" He smiled. "Anyways, you want to give it a try?"

I shook my head. "I have more places to explore."

"That's too bad. Jared is also here." He pointed towards the water, and I could faintly see Jared there.

"It feels weird seeing him out of uniform." I said.

Jeremy laughed a little bit. "I know right! And he's actually less strict that way. So it's pretty fun. I think me and him can be great friends."

I smiled at him. "Maybe so." Then I left to head to the next area.

The next place I saw was a store. Which was weird since it didn't fit in with the rest of the theme of this new area. But, I wasn't going to complain. I walked over to the doors when Katrine walked out, holding a bag.

"Oh, hello!" She smiled at me. "I saw there was a store and decided to grab a few things."

"What did you buy?" I asked.

She laughed a little bit. "You'll find out soon. Like, tomorrow."

I looked past her and into the school. "Anything of much use in there?"

She shook her head. "Not anything too useful, at least."

"Well…" I trailed off. "I'm going to go and check it out."

"And I'm going to use the things I got. You probably won't see me until tomorrow. So bye!" She called out, leaving.

I watched her leave, before I walked into the store.

Inside the store, there were several things that could be taken. Like pen and paper. There was some section for makeup, but I didn't need to go there, so I stayed clear. I entered a section that had hats and I saw Denise.

She had picked up a hat, and put it in on her head. She then noticed me. "What are you looking at?"

I quickly looked away to go back to looking at some of the displays. There weren't many things in the display. There also seemed to be a snack area, and the snacks seemed to at least be some decent brands. I then left that area to go over to the where a store clerk would be, but it was empty. There was a small sign that said. 'Everything is 100% off.' Heh, at least there's a small amount of humour in all of this. After looking around some more, I left the building.

The next place I stopped by seemed to be a water themed restaurant. I walked in to see Talia just roaming around the place. She didn't seem to happy. I walked over to her. "Is everything alright?"

She glanced over at me. "I'm pretty sure this is my Ultimate Attraction." She looked around. "But I could have honestly have done without."

"Why?" I asked her.

She looked back at me. "I don't like being a waitress, but since it was the easiest thing, I did it."

"What did you hate about it?" I asked.

Talia crossed the arms. "All the people were pretty much dicks. They would constantly flirt with me, despite how young I was. It made it very awkward to work. And then other people wanted to complain about the simplest things to try and get a re- Why am I even talking to you about this?" She glanced at the door. "I bet you anything the next person to walk in is a dick."

As if on cue, Miranda walked into the building, waving. "Hello." She smiled.

Talia just kinda looked at her before walking away.

"What was that all about?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I have no idea."

Miranda walked around the restaurant for a bit. I didn't find anything of interest, so I left to go explore some more. There didn't seem to be much left, so it was hard to find a place I hadn't gone to yet.

I did find a building that I know for sure I hadn't gone to. I opened the door and entered it. I looked around. It seemed to be a waiting room of sorts. There were a few pictures of animals in the room. It looked kinda like a doctor's waiting room. "Well… we don't have an Ultimate Doctor, so this would need to be-"

"The Ultimate Veterinarian Attraction." A voice came from behind me.

I turned around to see Jerry. "Oh, hey."

He looked around. "It's sad that he'll never see this room that was made for him." He said.

Veronica walked out one of the rooms, and seeing me, she smiled. "Hey." She walked over to me. "This is a nice building."

I looked around and nodded. Although it looked too nice. The walls were just so nice looking, like it had been built recently. "It really is."

"There isn't really anything here, thought." She said. "So it's not really worth exploring that much. But you can if you want." She smiled.

I shook my head. "You already explored, what's the point of doing it again."

"So you explored everywhere already?" Jerry asked.

I nodded. "I think it's time I head back to my cottage…" I looked around. "Or maybe grab something to eat. There's not really and clocks around here, and I left my Monopad there."

Veronica took out hers. "It's about noon."

"Oh! That's perfect!" Jerry said.

I looked over at him. "How come?"

"Well, a bunch of us were going to go check out the restaurant. " He said.

I slowly nodded. "I checked it out already. Apparently it's Talia's Ultimate Attraction. At least I assume it is."

He shrugged. "Who really knows?"

"Should we head there now?" Veronica asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, we can see which food is better. The one at the cafeteria, or the restaurant.

.

.

.

"Absolutely not." Talia said, crossing her arms. She was standing in front of the door to her Ultimate Attraction.

"What? Why not?" Ashton asked.

She glared at him. "This is my place, and I'm not going to let everyone roam around here."

"Come on, we won't be a burden. We'll even get our own food." Jeremy said.

Her glare was now aimed at him. "That's not the point. I just don't want anyone in here. So I locked the door, and I have the only key."

Suddenly, the door behind her opened, and Mindy was standing inside the building. "I don't need a key, silly."

Talia let out a sigh. "Fine, whatever, knock yourselves out." She stepped out of the way, sending a glare towards Mindy, who waved with a smile.

Everyone took some seats at various locations. Most people were sitting together. But I decided I wanted to sit alone. I looked around the place and noticed that Katrine wasn't there. I guess she was serious when she said I wouldn't see her till tomorrow.

Suddenly, Matthew sat in front of me.

I looked at him with the tilt of my head. "Huh…"

He looked around the room, "Keep your voice done. I just came by to ask if you have noticed anything strange lately."

"This entire experience has been strange." I replied.

He shook his head. "How about anyone acting strange as of late?"

My eyes immediately darted towards Mindy. "Well, there's-"

"Anyone else?" He said, taking a sip from the cut of coffee he now had. "I already marked her down. Anyone else you want to take note of?"

I shook my head. "Not that I can think of. Although Katrine did say she'd leave to go to her room for the rest of the night."

Matthew shook his head. "I know what she's doing. I accidentally bumped into her and saw what she had."

"Wait? Really? What did she have?" I found myself to be more curious than I would have liked.

He once again shook his head. "She kinda wanted to keep it a secret from anyone. It should be done tomorrow."

I let out a small sigh. "I guess that's fair enough."

"Hey, are you going to eat?" Matthew asked, pointing to my food.

I looked down at the food. "When did that get there?"

He shrugged. "About a minute or two ago. Seems like Talia finally cave in and decided to serve people."

I started eating my food, looking away from Matthew. "Say, why are you doing this anyways?" I looked up but he was no longer there. "Alrighty then…"

Nothing interesting happened for the rest of the day, And soon, it was night time. I went to bed and slowly closed my eyes

.

.

.

I awoke the next day to the sound of the Monokuma Morning Announcement that had been waking me up for the past couple of days here. I made my way to the cafeteria, forgetting completely about the restaurant that had opened up yesterday. Well, not that I forgot. More so I didn't want to walk to far, and others would probably come here. I was right, as there were a few people there. Although it was far from the full cast. Only Denise, Jeremy, Miranda, Nila were there. So that made five of us.

"So few people showed up." Nila mumbled.

Denise was leaning forward. "Of course, the water park portion of the theme back just opened up. As well as the restaurant. Of course people are leaving this place."

"Jeremy," Miranda said. "I'm surprised you haven't gone to the restaurant, given that it's pretty close to your Ultimate Attraction."

He simply shrugged. "I can't spend all my time there. It would get boring too easily. So I decided not to."

She nodded. "That's a fair point you bring up."

I walked over to the table after bringing a tray of food.

Miranda saw me and smiled. "Good morning Gregory. You aren't going to the new restaurant?"

I sat down across from her. "No, I think that would annoy Talia. Since she's probably there right now."

She slowly nodded. "That makes a lot of sense. I didn't go because I thought everyone else would go there. And I didn't want it to be too noisy while I ate."

"I only came here because I figured it would be locked." Nila said. "Since Talia has the only key to the place…"

Denise took a bit out of her food. "I don't understand what the big deal about all of this is. The food isn't that better than the food here. So it's not even worth the extra five minute walk."

Jeremy jumped in "But you are right next to the pool at the least. So if you were planning to go there after eating. It's a great idea."

She rolled her eyes. "Please, we don't even know if there are cameras in there."

"Well, I didn't find any." I said.

She crossed her arms. "Yeah, but none of the girls went to the changing rooms. So that might not be true for us."

"Why would I spy on you?" A voice that sounded like Jared's came from the door. We all turned to look at him. Except it was only Mason. "What? You thought I was Jared? I knew my impersonations were getting better!" He seemed excited.

Denise kept her arms crossed. "What do you want, Mason?"

"I overheard your little problem about the girls changing room. I would gladly go to investigate." He offered.

Denise quickly stood up. "If you even think about doing that, and I will kick your ass!"

"Bye!" He waved as he ran out.

She got up and ran after him. "You little shit!"

Miranda let out a sigh. "So much for the silence."

Suddenly, the door to the cafeteria opened again. "Good morning everyone." The voice of Katrine said.

"Oh hey, good mornin-" I looked over at her and just kinda froze. She seemed… different.

Her hair was now a sapphire colour. Her dress was now mostly emerald, with the occasional rose on it. And her eyes were also ruby. I didn't know how she changed her eyes, but the other made sense.

I just kinda looked at her. Kinda frozen. "I-is this what you got at the store?"

"Well…" She trailed off. "The hair dye and contact lenses were bought at the store. As for the dress, I already had it in my closet for some reason. I like to mix and match every so often."

"So you spent last night dying your hair sapphire?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Pretty much. It's not the first time I've dyed my hair, however. I like to do it a lot."

"What colour was your eyes and hair originally?" Miranda asked.

"Well, my eyes were brown, and my hair was blonde." Katrine said.

Jeremy tilted his head slightly. "Why did you feel the need to change?"

She let out a small laugh. "Oh, I always do this. I get bored of my old look and change it up ever so often."

"It's like a Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald design." Miranda pointed out.

She nodded. "Yup! I love those colours so much!"

"So you didn't go to the other place to eat?" I asked her.

"Nope!" Katrine replied. "I didn't really feel the need to go there. Here is nice enough. Although…" She trailed off. "No, nevermind." She looked around at us three. "You three are the only ones who didn't go to the restaurant?"

"Actually, Denise and Mason were here before." Miranda said. "Although Mason said he was going to investigate the girls changing room. And Denise went to stop him."

"Why would he want to do that?" She asked.

Jeremy shrugged. "To see if there's a camera in there."

Katrine crossed her arms. "I highly doubt there would be any…" She took a seat down beside me after getting herself some food.

The rest of the morning went along pretty normally and everyone parted ways to go do their own things.

.

.

.

I was walking around the new area when something, or someone, caught my attention.

"Pss!" A voice came from a building.

I turned to face the voice and saw Mindy poking her head out of the building. "Mindy? What do you want?"

"You know how I was doing a sculpture of Nila?" She asked.

I slowly nodded. "Yeah?"

"Well…" She trailed off. "Your turn!" She ran out and grabbed my arm.

"Wait what!?" I called out, attempting to resist her grasp. But she was very persistent. Soon, I was dragged into the cold room where one sculpture was there.

For some reason, Nila was still there. "Do not tell me you dragged him here against his will."

"Pftt! What? No…!" Mindy laughed a bit.

"Help me…" I mumbled.

She crossed her arms.

Mindy let out a sigh. "I want to do one of everyone! Pleeease."

I don't think I had a choice anyways. "Fine…" I mumble.

"Yay!" She continued to drag me over to a platform and put me on there. "Now stay still for about an hour or two."

"Wait what! That's way too long!" I complained.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't complain. Nila didn't complain."

"But, I did." She said.

"Shush! Trying to prove a point!" She yelled out. But then calmed down. "Let's get started."

"I don't like this." I said.

She giggled a little bit. "It's only downhill from here."

Great.

"Just ignore the cold." Nila said with a smile. "I know it may be difficult at first, but the pain goes away after a while."

"Are you sure you didn't freeze your nerves?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Most likely."

The next hour continued on pretty uneventful. I didn't want to move too much, but it was seemingly getting more difficult.

But soon, Mindy was finally done. "Perfection!" She called out.

I almost collapsed to the ground, having grown tired of standing up for so long in the cold.

Nila walked over to the sculpture to see it for herself. "It looks almost perfect."

"Almost?" Mindy crossed her arms before shrugging. "Eh, I'll take what I can get."

I slowly walked over to them to get a look for myself. "I am never doing that again."

"Don't worry!" She smiled. "You'll never have to do that again!"

I looked over at the work she had done and cracked a small smile. "Well, at least it looks really good."

"It better." Mindy said. "I am an Ultimate, after all."

I waved the two girls goodbye and left the building. I then went back to roaming.

.

.

.

Before I knew it, night time had already struck. The time seemed to really have flown this time around. I was getting ready to head to bed, when suddenly, a note slipped under my door. I got up and walked over to it. The letters on the note were really blocky. Whoever wrote this had pretty bad handwriting. The note read:

_Meet us at the changing room._  
.

It didn't say who it was from, but the writing was kinda square. Hard to describe. It was kinda suspicious, but against my better judgement, I left my room. Not just that, but it did specify 'us.' So, maybe there was going to be more than one person.

After a bit of walking, I finally made it to the changing room. I heard voices inside so I slowly crept the door open.

"Ah, that makes five of us." Jeremy said, seeing me walk in.

There were three other people there. Ashton, Jerry, and Mason.

"We're all here now." Ashton said. "So mind telling us why you gathered us here."

The surfer seemed to be the one who gathered everyone. "Well, I thought today would be a fun day and that we should all go swimming tonight. There's a nice breeze."

Mason thought for a moment. "That sounds pretty fun actually. Just us guys, alon-"

He was promptly ignored. "I even brought some drinks." Jeremy said as he pointed towards a cooler. "And also some sports stuff." He pointed towards some other stuff.

"Why aren't any of the other guys here?" Ashton asked.

Jerry took a step forward. "Jared probably wouldn't leave his station. Rial would probably say no. And Matthew is, Matthew."

"Aight, fair enough." The racer replied.

"So shall we get ready?" Jeremy asked.

.

After all five of us got ready to go swimming, we started heading out.

Mason walked over to the door and went to pull on it. But… it didn't open.

"Maybe it's a push?" Jerry suggested.

The comedian looked over at him. "I've been here enough to know it's a pull." He started banging on the door. "Hey! Who's keeping us locked in here."

A voice could be heard from the other side. "Hey, I've just been tasked with keeping you idiots in there." It was Rial.

"What, why?" Ashton asked.

"Well…" The sniper trailed off. "You aren't the only group who wanted to go for a swim. And I'm sure some of you already knew that."

"Maybe." Jeremy said.

"What other group?" I asked.

Rial waited a few seconds before speaking up. "Well, I know the girls wanted the pool to themselves tonight. So seeing you guys go in here, they got me to stand guard. You guys can swim tomorrow night."

"What? Who cares about girls!" Mason yelled out. "I just want to swim."

"Didn't you sneak into the girls locker room earlier?" The sniper asked.

There were a few moments of silence before he spoke up. "That was just to make sure I investigated everywhere."

"Suuuure…" Rial mumbled.

Ashton took a step forward. "Well not all of knew about that." He turned to look at Jeremy. "Did you know about this."

"Of course." He replied. "I thought it would be neat for everyone to hang out together."

"I heard you said it would be nice to look at all the girls." Rial said.

After a few seconds, Jeremy spoke up. "You got me there. But you can't say you aren't doing this for the same reason."

The sniper remained silent for a few seconds. "You can't prove that."

Jerry let out a sigh. "Well, we probably won't be let out anytime soon. So let's make the most of it." He smiled. He pulled out a deck of cards.

"Why did you have a deck of cards?" Ashton asked. "If we were going swimming?"

He shrugged. "I had a feeling we would get kicked out."

I let out a sigh as some of them started playing cards. Then, something came to mind… I started looking through all the names if I could see if one was missing. However, all the names were there. Weird...

.

After about an hour, we were left out. Luckily, we had drinks to keep us hydrated. It was really dark now and most of the lights were turned off.

Rial started walking off. "Good night." He mumbled as he turned the corner.

"Well, if stay out here any longer, Jared might come see what's up." Jerry said. "I'll be heading back to my room." He also walked off.

I looked at the other three guys before I waved and walked away. So much for going to bed early tonight…

.

The next day, I woke up and headed towards the cafeteria. I grabbed a plate and started to head over to the table I was going to sit at. I smiled seeing Katrine waved at me. This had actually distracted me, and I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I ended up bumping into someone and dropping my tray on whoever it was. "I'm so sorry!" I said, quickly turning to look at who it was. I quickly froze up.

It was Rial, who looked down at me. I couldn't tell what kind of emotions were in his eyes.

"Beat him up, Rial!" Mason yelled from the back.

Rial made a move and I thought that he was going to hurt me. But instead, he picked up the tray that I had dropped. "I am so sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"What?" Me and several people said at the same time.

"So no fight?" Mason asked, a little disappointed.

"Rial, are you feeling alright?" Mindy asked.

Matthew started stroking his chin. "This is most unusual… I can't even begin to comprehend."

"This is so out of character…" Jerry mumbled.

Rial looked around at everyone, tilting his head. "This is how I normally am." He said softly.

"This seems so wrong…" Jeremy let out a sigh.

Denise seemed kinda annoyed. "Who cares how he is being, just let it go…"

"Do you think Monokuma has to do with any of this?" Miranda asked.

"Puhuhuhuhu!"

Suddenly.

Bear.

"So you think I am the cause of this? I'm afraid to say I have nothing to do with this one this time." He looked down sadly. "Your friend here seems to be kinda sick…"

"Sick, you say?" Matthew asked, stroking his chin.

Talia rolled her eyes. "Couldn't help but get sick, couldn't you…"

Denise crossed her arms. "A sickness? What kind of sickness does this?"

"The Opposite Disease!" Monokuma announced.

"The what now?" She narrowed her eyes.

"It takes a trait from you and turns it into the opposite of what it is." He explained. "Take Rial for example. He is normally so intimidating."

Matthew nodded. "He is now a cinnamon roll."

Monokuma tilted his head slightly. "If you want to describe it like that, then sure. I won't stop you!"

"Guys, is anyone else infected?" Ashton asked, looking around.

"Not everyone is here." I pointed out.

"Jared, Nila, and Veronica are missing." Miranda pointed out.

"If Rial turns out to be like that with the opposite disease! I would hate to see what the other three would be like!" Mason said.

"Well, if they are infected, sucks to be them." Mindy said.

"Every man for themselves!" Mason called out, running around.

"Everyone! Enough!" A voice came from the entrance of the cafeteria.

Everyone turned to look at who it was.

Veronica was standing there with her arm parallel to the ground. Her hand, in a stopping signal. "We must not panic at a time like this." She seemed a little bit annoyed, and not at all shy.

"I'm no expert, but I think she might be infected…" Matthew said, stroking his chin.

"Dumbass... " Talia mumbled.

"I heard what Monokuma said, and I believe that I am infected. But I think my confidence is what was reversed." Veronica said.

"Wouldn't that be helpful?" Denise asked.

Monokuma shrugged. "I didn't say they were all going to be a hindrance. But I did infect four people today. And I will infect two new people every day until someone dies."

"So, on the seventh day, we will all be infected." She said.

"Pretty much!" The bear said. "Well, I should let you all have fun now." And with that, he vanished.

"I'm willing to bet that the two people not here are infected." Talia said.

"More than likely." Matthew said. "But we shouldn't rule out the possibility that someone else here is infected."

Mason raised his hand. "I vote Matthew."

"Why did you go for me first?" The director yelled out.

He shrugged at that.

"Well, Nila not being here is concerning…" I said. "But Jared isn't normally here…"

"Well, I think it should be more concerning that she's here now." Talia said, pointing outside.

I looked outside, and sure enough, Nila was walking towards the cafeteria. Two things were different, however. One, her hair was let down, no longer in the ponytails. And two, she seemed very angry. She walked into the cafeteria. She noticed right away everyone was staring at her. "What?"

"I like what you've done with your hair!" Mason said with a grin.

This received a glare from her.

"Aww, why the angry eyes?" He continued.

Ashton slowly moved over to Mason. "Can you not piss her off."

"Why? Do you think something bad will happen if you piss me off?" Nila said taking a few steps towards them.

The racer seemed very worried. "W-what! No!"

Somehow, Nila was now holding a knife in her hand. I didn't know where she got it.

"Alright. That's enough." Denise said as she stepped between them. "Nila, if you try and kill one of us, you will only get killed yourself."

"Unless you all die." Nila said. "Or, I don't kill any of you, and I just injure you beyond repair."

I glanced over and noticed Talia opening the other entrance to the cafeteria. She looked around the outside before glancing at the people nearby her. She did a head nod, which probably meant to leave through there. Jerry, Jeremy, Matthew, and Miranda were the first to leave. They were right there.

"You'd have a hard time doing that." Denise told Nila.

She brought the knife up to Denise's neck. "You want to bet? I can go for you first. Because right now, you seem like the biggest annoyance to me."

Veronica had remained silent most of the time, but her attention was caught by Talia.

"Get the rest of them out." She would say.

The technician nodded as she gathered the rest. Katrine and Mindy went along with her, as did I. Although Rial didn't want to leave. He was too focused on what was happening.

Mason turned to see everyone leaving. He patted Ashton on the shoulder and both of them started leaving. The comedian passed by Rial before stopping and grabbing his arm, dragging him away.

I watched from the outside, the scene unfolding in front of me. I was worried about leaving Denise there alone.

She grabbed something that she had on her back and brought it to Nila's neck. Upon closer inspection, it was an umbrella. She opened it up and it managed to hit Nila by catching her off guard. Denise turned around and quickly ran out the door we all left by. Talia closed the door.

"Well, we made it out of the building. Now what?" Mason asked.

The waitress took out a key. "We head to my Ultimate Attraction."

The group didn't really object to it. Everyone headed over to the water section. There was food there and Talia could lock the doors to try and keep Nila out. There weren't many windows, and most of them weren't even big enough to pass through.

After a while, we all made it there. Talia unlocked the door and everyone went in. Once everyone was in, she locked the door.

"Well, this should help out for today and tomorrow. But, more people might become infected. Hopefully none we have to kick out." She said.

"So, is this a sleepover?" Mason asked, excited.

"No you bastard child" Talia said to him.

"Aww." He mumbled to himself.

Matthew was walking around. "So how much food is stored here?"

Talia looked over at him. "It replenishes everyday, like the cafeteria."

"Well that's good." Jeremy smiles. "We won't run out of room anytime soon."

"Unless Monokuma decides to stop providing us food." Denise crossed her arms.

"Why would he do that?" Rial asked. "He's just a fluffy teddy bear!"

"The grownups are talking." Talia crossed her arms.

He looked down. "OK…"

"Well, there isn't much else we can do today." I said. "No matter what we do, two other people will be infected tomorrow."

Mindy crossed her arms. "Locked up in here, it's more likely one of us will die. If one of us gets infected pretty badly, who know what we would do."

"Or… Jared can be killed by Nila and it's an easy trial." Mason said.

"You aren't helping!" Denise yelled at him.

The comedian kept a smile on his face as he slowly backed away from everyone.

Veronica took a step forward. "Well, the first thing we should do tomorrow is figure out who just got infected."

"We should also make sure we all stay here. We don't want anyone running off." Talia said.

"Unless someone here turns and becomes problematic." Mindy said.

The technician walked over to her. "No! We aren't abandoning anyone. We are going to get through this. Even when we all become infected, at least some of us will still be able to keep us together."

"Right, as long as we don't let this affect us too much, we should be fine." Matthew said.

Jerry pulled out a deck of cards again. "Why don't we all just play some games while we wait." He smiled. "You know, might as well pass the time."

Miranda smiled. "Oh, I would love to play some card games."

The juggler started shuffling the cards.

Good, we were keeping our mind off of things. I walked over to the small window and glanced outside. Nila was nowhere to be seen, but neither was Jared. Even if he was infected, I hope he could survive with her out there.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, we all just talked and played card games. Talia, despite not liking the idea, decided that she would serve us food around lunch, and dinner time. Soon, it was already night time. I slowly fell asleep, hoping I wasn't infected when I woke up.

.

.

.

After some time, I would slowly wake up, hearing voices.

"Put that back!" The voice of a girl yelled. It sounded like Talia. "Where did you even find that? I searched the place already!"

"I want some juice too." It sounded like Rial said this one.

The waitress let out a sigh. "It's not juice…"

I opened my eyes and looked around. Talia seemed to be standing near a corner, trapping someone there. Upon closer inspection, it was Miranda. She was holding a bottle of something.

"I found it in a compartment in the floor." She said with a big smile.

"Seems to me like you didn't search the whole place." Matthew said, taking a step towards the waitress.

Talia seemed very mad. "Zip it."

Veronica walked over to the group. "Well, this shouldn't be too problematic." She pointed out. "Not like she's going to try and kill us. Now let's do a count to make sure everyone is here." She turned to look at everyone. She started walking around, counting everyone, making sure to also count herself. "Hey… we are missing someone…"

"Who's missing?" Denise asked, looking up.

Veronica went back to looking at everyone to see who exactly was missing. "Where's Jeremy?"

Talia walked over to the entrance and tried the door. "It's unlocked. He probably left."

"We should probably go find him." Mason said, oddly concerned. "With Nila out there."

Mindy let out a sigh. "He's just over there." She pointed outside.

Sure enough, Jeremy was walking back to the restaurant, seemingly without a care in the world. But that was normal.

Talia opened the door, a little angry. "Why did you leave?"

The surfer glanced over at her. "Hmm? Oh! I just needed some fresh air."

"Are you an idiot?" She called out.

"Probably." He said.

Ashton walked to the door. "You should consider yourself lucky that Nila didn't get you!"

The surfer tilted his head. "Nila? Oh. Yeah, I found her earlier. She won't cause much problems now."

"What does that mean?" Veronica asked.

Jeremy turned around. "I can show you." He started to walk away.

"Well." Veronica said. "I don't think we should all go. The infected should stay here. Talia, could you stay with them? Denise and Ashton too."

"Can do!" Ashton said with a smile.

Talia looked at the ground, shaking her head. "When did I get stuck with babysitting? That's not my talent."

The rest of us went over to see what Jeremy was talking about. After a while, we found her. She wasn't dead. But she was kinda tied to a lamp post. She didn't seem to be awake.

"I found her like this." Jeremy said.

Matthew took a few steps towards him. "Unless you did it."

"What! No. I wouldn't." He replied.

"So, Jared did this?" Katrine asked.

Veronica tilted her head slightly. "Possibly, or maybe Monokuma, but it seems very unlikely. So for now, we'll just assume an infected Jared did this."

"Or maybe Jared isn't infected and he just did that to stop her from hurting anyone else." Matthew said.

"Either way, we can't leave her here." Veronica said. "I know this sounds like a bad idea, but maybe we should bring her back. We can keep her tied up in the back, and give her food."

Katrine nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. We can't just let her starve."

"Someone should keep a watch on her." Jerry said. "Just to make sure she doesn't try anything funny."

Mindy walked over to Nila. "Well, I could untie her and retie her. She doesn't seem awake."

"We still have Jared to worry about." Mason said. "Should we send a group looking for him?"

The technician thought for a moment. "Mindy and Mason, bring Nila back, the rest of us will look for Jared."

Katrine looked over at me. "Want to look around together?"

"Shouldn't we just stick as one group?" I asked.

"Probably." Matthew said. "But, we can cover more ground if we split up." He walked over to Katrine and I. "I will be joining you two.

"Alright…" I mumbled out. "I guess we can be three people.

Jerry looked over at Jeremy and Veronica. "I guess us three can also explore around."

With that, we split off. Veronica choose to explore the first section in hopes that he was still at his Ultimate Attraction. Meanwhile, our group stayed in the Water area in hope of finding him there.

Matthew kept his eye on the other group before they were out of sight. "Hmm…" He hummed, thinking.

I glanced over at him. "Huh, what are you thinking about?"

"Just about everything. Still don't know exactly who to trust." He said. "You two seem more trustworthy than the others. There are some people who I just can't get a read on."

"You already mentioned Mindy… anyone else?" I asked.

He thought for a little longer. "Jeremy is a little weird."

"Jeremy?" Katrine asked. "What's wrong with him?"

Matthew shrugged. "I don't know, but for the most part, he seems way to calm about things. But this isn't about the disease. He's always been calm about everything. He also carelessly left the building this morning without knowing Nila was tied up until he found her."

"Are you saying… he knew she was tied up?" I asked. "Or that he tied her up?"

He slowly nodded. "It would make sense if he did it. Then again, we can't take Jared off that list yet."

Katrine looked up. "Oh, I guess we are near the store." She pointed out. "We should probably check in there." She started walking towards it.

I watched her go, but I turned my attention back to Matthew. "Yeah, well, we'll know when we find Jared."

The director looked up at the store. "Say… what's those things on the wall."

I turned my attention to what Matthew was talking about. It took me some time to realize what it was. All I could manage to yell out was. "KATRINE!"

She turned to look at me as the sound of something exploding was heard. It sent her flying back. She landed on Matthew. Despite being so close, she seemed to be injured.

"Well… that was lucky." She commented on the fact that she hadn't been injured.

"Yeah, lucky." Matthew said, lying on the floor.

"Oh!" Katrine exclaimed before quickly getting off. "Sorry about that."

On closer inspection, I noticed she was missing something. "Hey, you lost one of your contact lenses." She seemed to have brown eyes as her natural eye colour.

"I am?" She asked. "I didn't notice. Well, I don't actually need them. I just use them to change my eye colour."

I glanced over at the store. The place was totally destroyed. "Who did this?"

As if on cue, a laughter could be heard.

"Oh man, I almost killed someone!" Jared's voice called out. He laughed some more. "My bad!"  
I looked on the roof of the damaged store.

He was sitting up there. "I just wanted to cause a little bit of destruction. You guys are just collateral damage."

Matthew slowly stood up. He stayed on the ground the entire time. "Are you the one who tied up Nila?"

"What?" He asked. "No! Why would I do that?" He stood up. "Although if she was causing me some problems, I might have." He hopped off the roof. "Same with you three. If you cause me any problems… I will render you unconscious."

I took a few steps back. "I think we should just leave…" I mumbled to the other two.

Matthew nodded. "Yeah, it's probably best. Before he does something to us."

The three of us slowly stepped back.

"We should try and find Veronica to tell her what we found." I said.

We walked for a while before we even met up with her group.

"Did you guys find anything?" Jerry said. "We found a lost turtle." He pulled out a turtle out of nowhere.

Veronica turned to look at him. "I told you to put that back where you found it!"

He slowly put it behind his back. "..."

She let out a sigh. "Did you have better luck?"

"Well, I am here." Katrine smiled. "Yeah, we did find him. But it's best if we don't bring him in with us. He kinda… blew up the store…"

"He… what?" She asked.

"Cool." Jeremy smiled.

Veronica turned to look at him. "No! Not cool!" She looked back at us. "Are you three OK?"

I nodded. "Katrine was the closest when it exploded, but she escaped without a scratch."

"And landed on me…" Matthew added.

"Yeah… that also happened." I said.

"So… are we leaving him out here?" Jerry asked. "Was he the one that tied up Nila?"

Matthew crossed his arms. "He seemed to dodge around it near the end, but he did say no." He glanced over at Jeremy.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked, noticing he was being looked at.

Veronica let out a sigh. "We should just head back to the restaurant." She started to walk away.

We walked for a bit before we finally reached the restaurant. The first thing we would hear when walking away is someone crying.

"No one will love me!" Miranda yelled out, hugging her knees. Guess she drank too much.

Veronica looked over at Talia.

She crossed her arms. "She was being annoying so I yelled at her."

Jeremy walked over to Miranda, patting her shoulder. "There, there."

She quickly hugged him.

"How much did she drink?" Jerry asked.

Before anyone could say anything, a loud yelling sound came from the back.

"UNTIE ME YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" It sounded like Nila yelling.

I went out to check the back area.

"We can't do that!" Ashton said. "You'll just injure us all!"

She went silent for a bit. "I promise I won't."

"Yeah, no dice." Denise crossed her arms. "You would have killed me if I didn't fight back."

The soldier glared at her. "You don't have any proof."

"Who tied you up?" Ashton asked.

Nila glanced over at him. "Like I'd tell you. Either way, I was unconscious before I knew it." I couldn't tell if it was a truth or a lie. She noticed that I was there. "Gregory, get me out of here!"

I took a few steps back. "I'd rather not do that…" I looked over at Denise. "As she been doing that the entire time since she got here?"

"Kinda?" She shrugged. "She woke up as Mindy arrived. She almost escaped but we managed to get her in." She turned her attention to look at me. "So, did you find Jared."

"We did, but it's probably better if he stays out there…" I said. "He kinda blew up the store."

Denise frowned at that. "He… blew up the store…?" She repeated. "Fuck… where am I going to get smokes…"

"You smoke?" Ashton asked.

"That's not the important part!" She yelled at him.

He quickly nodded. "It would be troublesome if he tried blowing up this building."

I shook my head. "Not with this many people around, he didn't want to injure anyone per say. He just wanted destruction."

"That isn't exactly reassuring." She said.

"It should be fine then." Ashton said. "I'm sure he won't try and kill all of us."

The sound of a sigh could be heard. "Can I at least have some food?" Nila said.

"Right!" The racer called out as he went to get some food.

I watched Ashton head off. "I should probably head back to the front, see how everything else is going. Miranda seemed like a handful."

"She was…" She sighed.

I smiled slightly as I headed back to the front.

Miranda was sitting down in a chair, pouting.

"Is everything alright?" I asked.

She crossed her arms. "They cut me off…"

"I thought they would have done that from the beginning." I said.

She smiled slightly. "I hid some everywhere."

"Right…" I started walking back to everyone else.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. We just played more card games and talked around. We made sure to keep an eye on the three infected we had with us. And soon, it was already nighttime.

.

.

.

The next day, we would wake up to the morning announcement. Except, Monokuma was telling it from inside the restaurant.

"Hello everyone and gooood morning! This is the morning time announcement! And I'm here to announce that… THIS IS BORING!" He yelled out. "Stop trying to stay inside this damn restaurant! Go outside and explore the world! There's so many fun activities outside. Like drowning, for instance!"

Talia crossed her arms. "You just want us to go outside to increase the chance of a murder happening."

"Exactly!" The bear exclaimed. "Unless, you want to have more people infected."

Veronica started walking around. "Right! Who is infected?" She looked around before frowning. No one new was acting weird. But Rial was still acting like he was infected. "So, everyone else is feeling fine?"

"Most interesting." Matthew said. "I would say there must have been a death, but it wouldn't make sense to have everyone else act normal now, unless the body must be discovered."

"Nope!" Monokuma said. "As soon as someone dies, all the sickness will go away!"

"Does that mean my hangover will go away too?" Miranda asked, slowly getting up from where she was sleeping.

He shook his head. "Nope! Can't do anything about that."

Denise walked out of the back room. She heard most of what was going on. "Can we at least have one or two people stay here?"

"Sure!" Monokuma said. "As long as everyone is more spread out, things should be fine!"

She glanced over at Talia. "I'll stay with Nila then." She looked at everyone else. "You can all head out."

Rial heard this and walked out rather quickly.

Talia let out a sigh. "Mason, baby sit him."

"Got it." He smiled as he ran after Rial.

"You know, Mason being infected is really helping us." Matthew said.

After a few moments of silent, Jeremy said something. "Wait, he's infected?"

The rest of us left the restaurant since we didn't really have a choice. We decided it would be best to stick together as a group, so our first order of business was to find Rial and Mason. We found them near the pool.

"I want to go swimming." Rial said walking towards the pool.

Mason grabbed his arm and dragged him away. "You hate swimming."

He went silent for a few moments before replying. "I do?"

"Do we really need to stay together in a group?" Mindy asked.

"It would be better if we did." Veronica said.

She shook her head. "But we've been stuck in the same building for a while. I think I need some fresh air away from all of you."

The technician let out a small sigh. "Whatever, we can split off into groups. Groups of three or more. No less, and of course, we don't leave the infected alone together."

"I'll watch after Rial. Who wants to join me?" Mason said.

"I'll go with you, I guess." Ashton said.

Talia let out a sigh. "I guess I'll go with Miranda, who wants to go with me?"

Jerry walked over to her. "I can go with you, if you want." He smiled.

"I can go with you again." Jeremy said to Veronica, who seemed somewhat annoyed.

Matthew was walking towards me and Katrine, but then Mindy walked up to us. "So, I already have a statue of you." She pointed to me. "I want to make one of Katrine now."

"One of me?" She asked. "Why would you want to make one of me?"

"Because I want to make one of everyone. I already spent some time on other people. You'd be the fifth statue I make."

Katrine glanced over at me.

I shook my head. "It's really cold in there, so it's not that fun."

"It's fun for me!" Mindy said as she walked away.

I glanced around. Matthew had instead gone with Jeremy and Veronica, so it's not like we had much of a choice.

Soon, we would arrive at the attraction.

Mindy went to open the door, but it was locked. "Oh right, I forgot, I locked this so no one can ruin my work." She searched her pockets. "Shit!" She called out.

"What?" I asked.

"I forgot my key in my room, and I don't feel like going back." She frowned.

I thought for a bit. "Can't you just pick the lock? You've done it before, according to Mason."

"Pick the lock?" Mindy asked. "Why would I ever do that?"

I thought for a few more moments. "What do you mean?" Then it clicked in. "Are you infected?"

She thought for a few moments. "I don't really know. I don't feel any different."

"Well…" Katrine trailed off. "We didn't know who had gotten infected today. It's possible she's one of them."

"It doesn't seem her reverse trait is bad." I said.

Mindy rolled her eyes. "Can we just go back and get my key. Might as well since none of you are helping."

"Oh. Right." Katrine said. "I wonder if my luck would help with this." She walked over to door and attempted to turn the handle, which broke. But the door opened. So, that's something. "Whoops." Was all she said.

"My door!" Mindy called out.

Katrine slowly walked in. "On the bright side, it's open now."

"I guess." Mindy replied, annoyed. She walked in after Katrine, and then I followed. She walked over to the back room to get some tools. "Go stand on the pedestal." She said to Katrine.

She did as she was told. "So, how long does this normally take?"

Mindy dragged over a tall block of ice. "An hour or more, depends on several things."

"An hour?" She asked. "I have to stand still for an hour?"

"Well, you can take breaks between, but yeah, it takes a while. Tell me when you need a break." She said before starting to chip work on the sculpture.

A lot of time has passed before Katrine decided to take a break. Soon, she would go back to posing.

I started walking around after a bit, looking at all the other ones. I saw mine, and Nila. Apparently, Mindy had also done two other ones. I walked over to the two I didn't recognize on first glance. They were of Jennifer and Richard. Although they weren't exactly right. "Wait, you did these two?"

Mindy didn't look at me as she was busy. "Yeah, it's not exact, since it was based on memory. I did those two after you and Nila. I thought she'd be helpful in remembering small details, but her memory is actually pretty terrible."

"Interesting." I looked at it a bit longer before I moved in to see the project on the recent work. Mindy was making good progress on it. Maybe another hour and she'd be done. I glanced over at Katrine, and she seemed to be really cold. But, she was also wearing a dress, so it was understandable. I was pretty cold too, so I just wanted her to be finished. I glanced at Mindy's jeans. They had a few small holes in them, but she didn't seem to be cold. Then again, she's probably used to it by now.

"Say, you should show these to everyone else soon." I suggested.

She glanced over at me, thinking for a few moments. "That's actually a really good idea. I can maybe do that tomorrow." She smirked to herself.

After another long time, she was finally done. She placed her tools on the ground. "'Aww, this is always fun."

Katrine started hugging herself to keep warmth. "Can we leave now?"

She looked over at her. "Oh, yeah, we can leave now." She stood up from where she had started to sit on at one point. "We can do whatever you want to do for the rest of the day."

For the most part, we just roamed around. We ran into Veronica's group and we hung out with them. Before we knew it, it had gotten late. So everyone returned back to the restaurant.

"How's Nila doing?" Ashton asked Denise upon entering.

She let out a sigh. "Still, very annoying. Tomorrow, someone else should be in charge of watching her. I need to get out of this place."

Talia let out a sigh too. "I guess I can do that."

Miranda sat down at a table. "We didn't do anything fun today…" She pouted.

"You, shut up." The waitress said. "Dealing with you and Jerry is annoying."

He seemed a little offended. "What did I do?"

"You didn't help, that's what." She replied.

"Alright, you don't need to get aggressive about it." Veronica said. "We should all get some sleep soon, and deal with whoever is infected tomorrow."

Matthew hummed in thought. "We are still missing both people for today."

"Actually." I chipped in. "Mindy is infected, I'm pretty sure. She was locked out of her Ultimate Attraction, and didn't want to pick the lock to the door, saying she doesn't do that."

"Well, she did that a few days ago to open one of the cottages." Mason said. "So it's possible that she is."

Matthew looked over at Mindy. "That still leaves one person, then. So someone must be hiding that they are infected."

"Well, if they are hiding it, I doubt they would admit it." Veronica said. "So we should head to bed now."

We listened to Veronica and we all went back to our resting place.

.

.

.

I would wake up the next day, looking around at everyone else. I wasn't the first one up, as other people were already up. What really got my attention was when Jeremy walked out of the back room.

"I got some good news, and some bad news." He announced.

"What's the good news?" Denise asked.

He smiled. "I'm pretty sure today is Friday."

"And the bad?" She asked.

"Nila isn't in the backroom anymore." He said calmly.

Several people yelling out "WHAT?" could be heard.

"And that's not it…" Talia said, finishing counting up the people. "Rial is also missing."

"He probably wandered off on his own, like a child." Mindy sighed.

Matthew walked over to the door. He opened it, so it was unlocked. "We should probably head out and find him."

Talia looked around. "I'll stay behind to tell the people who are still sleeping what happened."

The people still sleeping were Ashton, Miranda, and Veronica.

I couldn't help but feel like we were missing something, but we went on our way with the rest of the group, which consisted of Denise, Jeremy, Katrine, Mason, Matthew, Mindy, and me.

"We should head over to my Ultimate Attraction." Mindy said. "We probably won't find Rial there, but Nila and I hung out there a few times."

I feel like she only wanted to head there to show off her sculptures.

"Sure, whatever." Denise said.

I glanced over at Mindy, who mumbled a silent 'Yes!'

"Why were you so calm about Nila having escaped?" Matthew asked Jeremy.

He looked over at him. "Oh, I'm always calm." He smiled. It wasn't wrong. I don't think I've really seen him freak out since we've been here.

Soon, we would arrive at Mindy's Ultimate Attraction. "We are here." She smiled as she pushed the door open.

"Why's the door broken?" Jeremy asked.

She glanced over at Katrine. "Because _someone_ broke the doorknob!"

She glanced away, pretending like it wasn't her.

We all walked into the Ultimate Attraction.

"Wait, you've been working on these?" Mason asked, looking around.

She nodded. "Yeah, all of these I've made since it opened up."

Mason was walking around. "Even some of the two that died, that's respectable." He commented.

"You had time to make all six of these?" Jeremy asked.

Mindy's smile faded. "Six of them? I only made five."

I nodded, since after Katrine's, there were only five.

"Those five." She pointed to the ones she made.

"What about the one in the corner?" The surfer asked.

We all walked over to the corner of the room, where, there was indeed another sculpture. As we all looked at it, an announcement played.

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

The monitor in the room turned on to show Monokuma. "A body has been discovered! Exciting! Please head over to Ultimate Ice Sculptor's Attraction to see it with your own eyes!" Then, the monitor turned off.

We stood staring at the frozen body. The body was of the Ultimate Juggler, Jerry Foster…


	5. Chapter 2: Opposites Attract-Deadly Life

We all stood there, looking at the body. None of us really wanted to move.

"Well, at least it's a nice statue." Jeremy said.

"Jeremy, what the fuck?" Denise crossed her arms.

Matthew approached the body. "Hmm…" He looked at it some more. He took a few steps back. "Yup, definitely dead."

"No shit…" Mindy said, annoyed.

He shrugged. "Just saying."

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Finally!" He yelled out. "You guys waited way too long to kill someone! I was starting to worry."

Denise crossed her arms. "Just give us the Monokuma File." She seemed annoyed.

"Befoooore! I'm here to say that everyone who was infected, is now no longer infected." Monokuma said.

"Wait, that means I can stop acting?" Mason asked. "Oh thank god, it was annoying trying to seem caring."

Denise lifted him up by the shirt collar. "What the hell do you mean acting? That means we have two people who were infected!"

"Either that, or I lied about infecting two people a day." Monokuma said. "Puhuhuhuhu! Just kidding! Some of the people were lying!" He pulled out a file. "Here you go! Your very own Monokuma File!"

I grabbed the file and opened it. I started reading it.

.

**Monokuma File #2:**

.

**The victim this time is Jerry Foster, the Ultimate Juggler. The body was discovered in the Ultimate Sculptor's Attraction. He was found frozen to death. The estimated time of death is about 6:30 in the morning. Nothing else seems to be known.**

.

"That's it…?" I mumbled. "Seems like we have less information than last time."

Denise finished reading it. "Not much to work on."

Soon, the door opened and two people walked in. It was Rial and Nila.

"I suspected as much." Rial said. "As soon as I reverted back, I figured something like this had happened."

"Where were you two this morning?" Denise asked, rather rudely.

"I… well…" Nila mumbled.

"We should wait till everyone else shows up." I said.

Matthew shook his head. "Waiting won't do much. The others might be investigating other things, so we should start looking now."

I thought for a moment. "Right, we should start investigating. We don't know when Monokuma will start the trial…"

.

Investigation, START!

.

Well, the most logical place to start would be to get a better look at the body. I made my way there. Katrine followed me.

Jeremy was standing in front of the body. He lightly pushed it with his finger and the body fell over. "Hmm…" He slowly picked it up, putting it back to how it was.

I walked over to him. "Hey, Jeremy."

"You didn't see that." He declared, turning to us.

"We did." Katrine said.

He remained silent for a few seconds before smiling. "What can I help you with?"

"Did you find anything of interest?" I asked.

He thought for a few moments. "A few things."

That wasn't very helpful. Guess I would need to investigate it myself. Then, I thought of something. "Say… you were the one that discovered that Nila was missing this morning."

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, I was. What about it?"

"Could you tell me how you found the scene?" I asked.

He thought for a few more moments. "Well, nothing out of the ordinary. Although the knot was undone."

"The knot was undone?" Katrine asked.

"Yeah, I knew Nila was amazing, but to undo a knot while tied up, that really takes the cake." He smiled.

That actually helps out a little. I should check out the back room at the restaurant later.

I took a closer look at the ice that encased Jerry. There were some notable scratches along the bottom. "What do you think caused this?" I asked.

Katrine also took a look. "I don't really know."

"Yeah, I noticed that was there too." Jeremy said with his arms crossed. "It was really weird. But he might of tried to claw his way out."

"I don't think nails would leave scratch marks like those." I said.

Jeremy looked back at them. "I guess."

Next thing I noticed was on the ground. There was a knife. I leaned down to get a better look. The knife didn't have any blood on it.

Jeremy picked it up. "The knife seems somewhat dull." He poked the tip, which cut him a bit. He drop the knife in pain. "Or maybe not."

I picked up the knife, making sure to hold it carefully.

Katrine also took a look at it. "Doesn't it look a little familiar?"

I looked at it some more before nodding. "Yeah, it does…" But, judging by the fact the Monokuma File didn't mention any stab wounds, it's safe to say this wasn't used on the victim.

That's all that was of note here.

Katrine and I walked back to the center of the room.

"Freezing to death sounds like such a horrible way to go." Katrine said.

I looked over at her. "Yeah...it is. Although the way Jennifer went was pretty bad too."

She nodded. "How long do you think it will take before someone will rescue us?"

I thought for a few moments. "Hopefully, soon. We've already been here for weeks, so maybe someone figured out something."

Matthew was watching them two. "Stop chatting and investigate."

"You aren't investigating either." I said.

He looked at me before taking a few steps back,

We should probably talk to someone who was infected. I walked over to Nila who was mostly keeping to herself. "Hi, Nila." I smiled.

She glanced at me, waving slightly. "Hello."

"Do you know what you were doing when you were outside this morning." I asked.

She frowned slightly. "I do not really have any memory of the time I spent infected."

I was going to say something, but I remember Mindy saying that her memory was pretty poor.

"Are you sure that there's nothing you can remember?" Katrine asked.

She shook her head. "I have absolutely no memory of anything. I wish I could help."

"Alright." I said to her. "If you do remember something, make sure to tell us." I started to walk away. And then, came Rial.

He glanced over at us. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to ask you why you had left this morning."

He looked down at the ground, crossing his arms. "I saw two people leave, and my childish self decided to follow them. I don't know who I had followed, it was too dark."

"Two people?" Katrine asked. "One after another, or at the same time?"

"The same time." Rial said. "They left as a group. They quickly lost me and I wound up lost somewhere in the first section." He thought some more. "That's all I really remember. Although there might have been the sound of someone falling, but that part is fuzzy."

That seemed like all the information we were going to get from Rial, so it was probably time to move on to someone different. The next person we moved up to was Denise.

She didn't seem to happy. But, then again, it _was_ Denise.

"Everything alright?" I asked.

She glanced over at me, and then back at who she was staring at. "Just once, he could at least help out." She was looking at Mason. "But now he's made our jobs harder, by pretending to be infected. We could have known sooner someone was lying."

"That is troublesome, but, there's not really anything we can do to stop him. He'll keep doing what he does." I said. "I can try and go talk to him…" I said.

Katrine and I walked over to him.

"I did it because it was fun." Mason said, already knowing what we were here for. "Also maybe everyone needed a more serious me. I didn't feel like getting yelled at the whole time."

"Well, you can do that anytime." Katrine said. "But you didn't have to act like you were infected. Or, you could have told us you weren't."

"If I told you I wasn't, would you have believed me?"

"Depends." I replied. "Either way, you were able to help someone not be discovered."

He shrugged with a pout. "That's what you get for being mean to me."

This was a lost cause, we should probably move on. The next person we walked to was Matthew, who was deep in thought, per usual. "Figure anything out?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not anything of interest. Most of this still remains a mystery, but maybe that mystery could clear up if we found out about the last two infected people." He glanced over at the body. "But maybe, Jerry was one of them."

"There's no way to know for sure, unless we can prove for sure everyone else was not infected." I said.

The director glanced up at the camera. "Or, the bear tells us."

Suddenly.

Bear.

"No." Was all he said before disappearing again.  
"So I guess we are on our own, it seems." Matthew said.

With that, we walked away.

Katrine stepped on something and glanced down. It was a piece of paper.

I leaned down and picked it up. "What's this doing here…?" I started reading it.

.

Meet me by the pool in an hour

.

The writing was kinda square, which was the best way I could describe it. I kept looking at the note. Was this given to Jerry? But if it was a meetup at the pool, how did it lead to here… It also doesn't give an exact time, so it might be hard to figure out when exactly the meetup happened, or, if it happened at all… I turned to look at Katrine. "What do you think about this?"

She thought for a moment. "I think we should keep it with us, and use it during the trial. We can't figure out much about it right now, but maybe something will come up later."

We moved onto the next thing to investigate. The broken door. "So, normally this would have a lock, but since you broke the door, I don't think it can lock anymore."

"You don't have to remind me…" Katrine said. "I wonder how many people knew it could lock. Maybe it's something we can ask Mindy about."

"It could be something we can ask her." I said.

The last place we hadn't checked yet was near the backroom, where Mindy was standing, looking at a few things. We walked over to her to see if she had anything to say.

She glanced over at us. "Surprised you took so long to talk to me. It's my Ultimate Attraction, after all."

"Well, we found it better to gather more information before going to you." Katrine said. "How many people have been here that you know of?"

She thought for a few moments. "Well, I think everyone has been here at least once, but the ones I know stayed here longer are Nila, and you two. But that doesn't really matter since I never gave any information about how my Attraction works."

"Not even to Nila?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope."

I looked around the area she was standing, there seemed to be a pipe that burst open. "What do you think caused this?"

"Well, there doesn't seem to be any brunt force on the pipe, so no one hit it. Maybe too much pressure from the inside caused it to burst open." Mindy said.

"What comes out of it?" Katrine asked.

"It helps keep the room below zero, but it's probably not best for it to come out of the pipe like that. There's vents around the place for the cool air." She said.

"What about this doorknob?" Katrine asked, despite it clearly being a valve.

Mindy laughed a little. "That's a valve, although it does look more like a door knob, now that you've mentioned it. It controls the pipes. I found it turned all the way, so someone was messing around with it. Probably trying to lower the temperature." She glanced to the side, to look at Jerry.

"Maybe…" I looked at his body too.

That seemed to be all that was of interest in the building. Maybe I should go explore elsewhere. There is the pool I need to check out, since a supposed meeting happened there.

Katrine and I walked out of the attraction, and headed over to the pool. We would find someone waiting there.

"I am so sorry about my actions while I was infected!" Jared said. "I was supposed to be here protecting everyone. But I got taken down. It won't happen again!"

"You don't have to apologize!" Katrine said.

"But I almost got you killed!" He said.

She shook her head. "I turned out unharmed, didn't I?"

He went silent for a few moments. "I guess you did."

"So what are you waiting by the pool for?" I asked.

"Oh! Right!" He turned to look at the pool. "Seems like someone might have taken a dip in the pool last night, there are water splashes outside. And they are recent, I'd say…" He looked down to think. "Maybe a few hours. The sun hasn't been up long enough to completely dry it up."

"This is actually helpful. We found a note that told of a meeting at the pool. We think Jerry might have been lead here." I said. I took out the note and handed to him.

He read over the note. "Could the body have ended up there to try and hide it. Or at least to hide the truth?"

"That's a possibility." I said. "Well, I think that's pretty much all that is here. We should continue on, Katrine, I think there's still a group left at the restaurant."

She nodded to me and we headed over there.  
Once she got there, the three that were previously asleep were now awake. The first person I wanted to talk to was Veronica. "So, decided to sleep in?"

She glanced at us, nodding. "Yeah, apparently confidence comes with not wanting to sleep. I was always the last one up, and the first one awake." She let out a yawn. "So I think my lack of sleep all came crashing down when I was cured."

"You were awake for so long?" Katrine asked her.

Veronica nodded. "I guess I just didn't notice it at the time…" She looked down. "Although… I miss being infected… I felt a whole new breath of fresh air. I need to be more confident!" She said, trying to prep herself. Then she shook her head. "Who am I kidding? I can't do that!" She took a deep breath. "I don't really know anything that happened. I only woke up a few minutes ago. Apparently I slept through the body discovery announcement."

I thought for a few seconds. "Well, I'll go talk to the others."

"You do that." She said.

The next person we talked to was Miranda, who… has seen better days. "Are… you OK?" I asked her.

She was sitting down at a table, holding her head. "He wasn't kidding when he said he wouldn't get rid of my hangover." She took a sip of water. "Talia said to drink a lot of water since that's what helped her when she drank a lot."

"Aren't we only fifteen?" I asked.

"Hey! Don't judge!" Talia yelled out.

Ashton tilted his head. "It would explain why there was some here in the first place."

She crossed her arms. "Life sucks, and it makes it suck less."

"Anyways, that's not the point here." I said. Guess talking to Miranda won't really help. I walked over to Talia, ignoring the drinking part. "So, anything you can tell us?"

She thought for a few moments. "Not anything of use. Except the fact that I lock the doors every night, but the door was locked in the morning, despite having Rial and Nila leave."

I looked down, deep in thought. That might actually be very helpful. "Is that all you have?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. I'm not much help since I've been stuck here since this morning."

"Alright, well, thanks for the information." I smiled at her. The last person left in the room was Ashton. I walked over to him. "Why were you still sleeping? The other two were passed out because they were infected. What about you?" Maybe Ashton could have been one of the infected.

He rubbed the back of his head. "Man, I don't know. I remember waking up in the middle of the night, and next thing I know I've passed out again. Although I think doing some walking, because where I woke up was not where I fell asleep last night." He laughed a little bit. "I was probably sleep walking. Although I think I banged my head when I fell." He rubbed the back of his head again.

"Maybe when you fell?" Katrine asked.

"Oh, yeah! Probably!" Ashton said.

Well, I think that's all we can do in this room, I guess there's just the back room to see what Jeremy was talking about.

We made our way there. We walked over to the rope that was holding Nila. There didn't seem to be any cuts on it, it was clearly untied.

"Yeah, someone definitely untied the knot." Katrine said. "But was it Nila or someone else…"

"I don't think Nila could have undone this." I said. "But we shouldn't just assume, maybe the rope could have been loosened over the days of struggling. But it also could have been someone else. But what would they gain from freeing her?" I pondered to myself. "I don't think there's anything else here…" We started to leave when I almost stepped on something. I glanced down to find a pan lying on the ground. "Weird, what's that doing here?"

Katrine picked it up. "I don't think Talia would like this just lying on the floor." She walked over to the sink to place it there.

We walked out of the room where the rest of the four were.

"Find anything useful there?" Talia asked.

I shrugged. "I only went out there to check the condition of the ropes, but we did find a pan on the ground."

She seemed annoyed hearing that. "Who would just leave that lying around?"

"I don't know, but we did put it away." Katrine said.

Soon…

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

Monokuma turned on the monitor. "Time for the investigation is over! Now, it's the time for action! Meet at the fountain for some excitement!"

"Already…" Katrine mumbled with a frown.

"I swear, we got less time this time." Talia sighed. "But there's not much we can do against him."

Miranda slowly stood up, taking another gulp of water. "Might as well get this over with…"

The six of us made our way to the fountain, there, we would find the rest of the students.

"I hope you guys had better luck than us." Ashton said.

Matthew shook his head. "We didn't find much. However, now, we have to worry about two students we don't know being infected."

"What? Who wasn't infected?" Veronica asked.

Mason waved. "It was I, the prank master!"

The five who weren't at the scene of crime went really silent.

"Alright, listen here you little shit." Talia said.

"No." Was all he said.

She let out a sigh. "How do we know he's lying about not being infected. It does sound like something he would do…"

Suddenly.

Bear.

"No, he was not one of the six people I had to cure." Monokuma said.

Talia looked at him for a few seconds before speaking up again. "Wait s-"

"Well, I better head off." He called out before leaving.

After a few moments, the fountain moved out of the way to make way for an elevator. Everyone stepped in and took the lift down.

It was pretty silent. I glanced around at everyone. We really hadn't learned much, and here we were, about to head into the trial. One of us would need to be killed again. And, if we don't figure out who did this, all of us but one will be killed. I took a deep breath. We did this once, and we could do it again. I had to believe in myself, and the others.

Soon, the elevator came to a halt. The doors opened.

We all walked to our podiums, this time, like how Jennifer had a picture with a question mark where her podium should have been, the other two deceased had pictures at their spot. Richard had an X across his, meanwhile, Jerry had three circles around his, like he was juggling them.

I looked around at everyone else. Again, one of us has killed...

_Several pictures appear_

_One of Miranda playing her violin_

_One of Jerry juggling._

_One of Jeremy waving casually._

_One of Mason smirking mischievously._

_One of Matthew stroking his chin._

It fell to us to figure out who did it.

_One of Veronica holding on tightly to a wrench._

_One of Denise lowering her sunglasses._

_One of Nila with her hands held close to her._

_One of Richard, looking off into the distance._

_One of Talia holding a tray, looking angry._

_One of Rial, looking at the ground._

There wasn't much to go off of…

_One of Mindy, with an ice pick._

_One of Jared, adjusting his cap._

_One of Katrine, glancing away._

_One of Ashton, fist bumping himself._

_One of Gregory, looking determined._

But that won't stop us from solving it!

.

.

.

Class Trial!

Commence!

.

.

.

"So, I think the first thing we should do is reevaluate everyone who was infected, and the order they became infected." Matthew said.

"Right." I said. "The first day, Rial, Veronica, Nila, and we would later find out, Jared got infected." I looked over to the side. "Although, Jared could have been infected on the second day, since we don't have anyone there. And someone has been lying since day one."

"Do not worry, I was infected since day one. If I wasn't, I would have showed up to aid you all." Jared said with a smile.

"After that…" Talia said. "Miranda was infected, then that's where it starts to get tricky and someone is missing from the total."

"And lastly…" Jeremy said. "Mindy was infected."

Katrine nodded. "We almost actually missed that one. Since it wasn't apparent what was changed. So it might be likely someone else is the same case. It's possible that they aren't lying, they just didn't know they were infected."

"Yes, yes." Matthew said. "We can't just assume one of us lied. However, if the killer was infected, they probably did lie so we didn't assume it was them. For now, since we can't possibly know if Jerry was infected, we'll just assume he was anyways."

I shook my head. "That might be taking a leap. We shouldn't act like he was until we know for sure. It might make change our judgement on certain things."

"Fair." He replied.

"Even with all that, we don't really have a good starting point." Denise said, with her arms crossed.

Mason smirked to himself. "Then let's talk to Mindy, it was her place after all!"

"Just because it's my place, doesn't mean I did it." She replied.

"True." He said with a tilt of the head. "But you would know the most."

The ice sculptor looked the other way. "Yeah… but…"

"Can you prove it wasn't you!" Mason said.

"No… Not yet, at least." Mindy mumbled.

Matthew spoke up. "Let's take a moment and not accuse each other right away. We need to try and figure out what happened. We can judge who could, and couldn't have done it after."

"Well…" I trailed off. "We found a note at the scene of the crime asking someone to meet up at the pool."

Matthew hummed in thought. "Interesting, but we can't prove that they went to the pool, can we?"

"Well, when I went to the pool to investigate, there was still water on the side, probably from someone leaving the pool." I said.

"Yes." Jared said. "I had passed by the pool on the way to the scene of the crime and spotted it. So I decided to stay there till someone showed up."

"So people met up at the pool, but how does that really help us?" Ashton asked.

"Well, we know that one of the people who went to the pool is the victim." I said. "We don't know what happened to the second person, they could be the killer, or maybe they are unrelated. But I'm pretty sure Jerry was the one to receive the note."

"That does align with what I saw…" Rial crossed his arms. "Like I've already said, I saw two other people leave. However, it was dark and I was tired, so I didn't see who they were."

"What if one of them was Nila?" Mason asked with a smirk. "Since she also left overnight."

Talia looked over at her. "Well…?"

She looked around at everyone. "I do not have any memory of when I was infected… it is mostly a blur."

"That does make things harder…" Matthew said.

"Then let's not worry about that right now." Veronica said. "Let's figure out how Jerry could have been frozen."

"Right." I said. "He was frozen pretty badly, not just hypothermia levels of frozen, but, he was encased in ice."

Ashton heard that part and seemed disturbed. "Encased in ice? I thought he just died of hypothermia!"

"He did have a horrified face on him." Rial said, looking away. "So it was probably painful. Either that, or his nerves froze off and he didn't feel a thing."

"What froze him?" Talia asked. "I've been there and it wasn't too cold. It was cold, but not enough to freeze someone like that."

What froze him… yeah, that was…

"It was probably the pipe that burst. Someone turned the valve all the way, which probably caused-" I started said.

"But that wouldn't freeze someone like that." Mindy said. "It's not cold enough to completely do it, I've been thinking about it for a while; Which is why I didn't do much investigating."

I looked over at her. "But that's the only way he could of been frozen."

"I get that, but something else must have helped…" She said, looking away.

He wouldn't have frozen under normal circumstances, what was different then…

"It's possible he was still drenched in water from the pool." I said.

Mindy thought for a bit. "Yeah, that would do it, I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to go there after swimming."

"So this would pretty much confirm that he went to the pool." Jared said.

"I would say maybe someone knocked him out there, but the file said there were no injuries." Matthew said.

"Yeah, so he went there on his own free will." Mason said. "Dumbass. It's like going swimming outside in winter."

Mindy looked over at him. "It's actually quite fun."

"Only you would find it fun." He said. "Anyways, let's talk more about the Ultimate Attraction. When we got there, the door was broken."

"Yeah, when Mindy, Gregory, and I went over there yesterday, I broke it because Mindy didn't want to pick the lock." Katrine said. "So when I attempted to try to open it, it broke."

"Why would she need to pick lock?" Nila tilted her head.

I glanced over at her. "Because it was locked."

The soldier looked over at Mindy. "But, Mindy, your door does not lock."

She glanced away, acting like she didn't hear anything.

"Then what was that whole thing?" I asked.

"Mindy broke her door a few days ago and said she would blame it on someone else." Nila said.

She looked over at the soldier. "Oh I did? Pfft, like I would say that."

"Is that the truth?" Matthew asked.

She went silent for a few moments. "Yes…"

"Were you lying about being infected?" Katrine asked.

Mindy shook her head. "No, I definitely felt infected. I would never respond like that."

"So I guess the door being broken is useless, since it never locked in the first place." Mason said.

Ashton hummed in thought. "What else do we have to go off of? Oh, wait! That note!" He smiled.

"Oh, that." I said. I took it out. "Yeah, we found it near Jerry's body."

"May I see it?" He asked.

I handed over to the person beside me until it eventually reached Ashton.

He looked at the note for a few seconds before realizing something. "Isn't this the same handwriting when we got invited to the pool?"

I froze for a bit. That's right… it is. Which means that the person who wrote that note must be…

"Jeremy." I said looking at him.

"Yes?" He looked over at me.

"You wrote this note, didn't you?" I asked.

He glanced over at the note, before crossing his arms. "That isn't my handwriting. Could I have the paper and a pen?"

The paper made its way to him.

"And a pen." He said again.

Talia removed a pen from her shirt and tossed it at him.

It bonked him in the head, but he didn't seem to react. He placed the paper on the wood in front of him and wrote. When he showed us, it was very different from the one from the note. His writing was actually really nice. It was almost cursive, but not quite.

.

This is how I write.

.

"But you invited us to the pool the other day!" Ashton said.

Jeremy nodded. "But I didn't write the note, I was too busy getting snacks and drinks."

"Then, who wrote the note?" I asked.

"Oh, that's easy." He smiled. "I got Jerry to send out invitations."

Jerry…? "So he wrote the note?"

"Who the hell did he invite?" Denise asked.

"The killer! Duh!" Mason said. "What a sad twist of events."

Matthew hummed in thought. "I better take notes."

"What reason would he even have to head out to the pool at night?" Rial asked. "Unless…" He trailed off.

"This all boils down to if he was infected or not." Mindy said.

"If only _someone_ would tell us!" Talia glared over at Monokuma.

The bear looked at her before covering his mouth. "Puhuhuhu!"

"He's a lost cause." Veronica said with a small frown. "If Jerry is the one that sent the note, that changes a few things."

Rial glanced away. "Like perhaps the original victim, if he was infected and trying to kill."

"There's also the possibility that the person invited wasn't even the killer, but a third party." Jared said.

Rial shook his head. "I don't think so. Only two people left that I know of."

"Did you stay there?" The officer asked.

The sniper remained silent for a bit. "No, I followed them, so someone could have left after me."

"We should worry about the second person for now." Katrine said.

"Probably Nila." Mason said.

"W-what?" Nila mumbled, hearing Mason.

He looked over at her. "Who else would it be? You also left, so maybe you two left at the same time."

"I did not." Nila said. "Not that I remember anyways."

"Mason, drop it." Mindy said.

He put his hands behind his head. "If you say so."

"You guys seem really stuck!" Monokuma joked. "It's a shame really."

"We aren't stuck." Rial said. "We are just thinking of all possibilities."

"No, it sounds like you all need help." The bear said.

Miranda looked at him. "Will you help us?"

He looked straight ahead for a second. "Nope!"

Rial crossed his arms. "Then stop bugging us."

"If you treat me so poorly, then I won't help you later when you really need it."

"Stop toying with our lives!" Mason yelled out before taking a deep breath. "Wow, I didn't know I needed to yell."

Veronica looked over at Monokuma. "Just tell us already!"

"Feisty aren't we? I thought I cured you as well as-" Then he stopped himself. "Maybe it's not actually important!"

Denise thought for a moment. "Well, what if we need that information to solve the case, and no matter how much we try, we won't be able to solve the case without it."

Monokuma thought for a moment. "You'll be able to solve it without it!"

"So what if we get the information? Does it really change anything?" She asked.

The bear kept thinking. "I guess not really. But I don't need to tell you the six people I cured."

"Then tell us!" She yelled.

"FINE!" Monokuma yelled out. "The people that were infected are **Jared, Jeremy, Jerry, Mindy, Miranda, Nila, Rial, and Veronica.**"

A few moments passed before Jeremy looked at the bear. "Wait! I was infected?"

The bear looked at the ground, disappointed. "I infected you, but nothing happened. What a waste of work."

"So Jerry was infected." I said. "That helps a lot with how we think of this trial."

"It does." Rial said. "Now that we know who was truly infected, and who was lying." He glanced over at Mason. "We have a clearer path to the end goal."

"Yeah!" Ashton cheered. "We got this in the bag!" There was a moment of silence. "Now what?"

"I hate you all." Talia said, annoyed. She tilted her head to look at Monokuma for a second before looking back. She was now in deep thought.

"With that information, can we assume that Jerry tried to kill because of his infection?" Mason asked.

The room went silent again. That was probably the case.

.

.

.

Class Trial!

Intermission!

.

.

.

"So, we should know worry about what happened last night in the diner." Rial said. "A few things did, after all."

I nodded. "Right. Two people left." He looked over at Nila. "And with the information we have now, I think we can tell how Nila got out."

Yeah, of course. "Jerry got her out."

"How she didn't kill him right after is a mystery to me." Rial said. "It would have been a free kill."

"Let's not think of it like a free kill." Miranda frowned.

The sniper shook his head. "Either way, I followed those two out, if it's them."

"You said you were woken up by a loud sound, right?" I asked.

He nodded." That would be correct."

"We should figure out what that sound was." I said. "And I think I know what it is."

Yeah, it had to be. "Ashton said he collapsed last night after waking up. He was really tired."

Matthew shook his head. "Isn't that a little weird?"

"Excuse me?" I asked.

The director tilted his head slightly. "Well, he would have fallen down moments before the duo left."

I looked off to the side. "That's a good point." But then… what happened…

"Ashton was knocked out!" I concluded. "The other two must have thought he would be a problem, so took care of it."

"Hey! That's not really nice!" Ashton said, looking at Nila.

"I-I told you I have no memory!" She tried to defend herself.

Ashton crossed his arms. "Besides! How would they have been able to knock me out. I'm strong willed, after all."

"They hit you with a pan." I said.

"Yup, that'd do it." He said.

Rial nodded to himself. "Yeah, that would definitely do it. And it would probably keep him asleep for the next few hours. So I think he has an alibi."

"Don't most of us have alibis?" Jeremy asked. "The crimes happened thirty minutes before the morning announcement. And most of us were still in the diner."

Talia looked away. "It's true, I was up first, and I didn't see anyone come back from anything. Besides, they couldn't anyways. The doors were locked."

"That is a mystery…" I mumbled to myself.

"So, I guess we should just concentrate on who we know went out." Katrine said.

I nodded. "Seems like it. So we know that Jared, Jerry, Nila, and Rial were outside the diner."

"I can say that I was mostly going around trashing the place." Jared said. "Being infected was the worst." He looked over at Katrine again. "Once again, I am so sorry about almost killing you."

She shook her head. "It's fine."

"I even ruined one of your contact lenses!" He said.

She kept shaking her head. "I find having two different eye colours makes me look cute!" She smiled.

"We are getting off track." Rial said.

"Right!" Jared said. "Rial, where were you?"

He looked away. "I got distracted by a butterfly whilst following them. So I just wandered around the wave pool for a bit. So, Jeremy's Ultimate Attraction."

"I have the best Ulti-" He started to say.

"No you don't." Mindy said.

"That's fair." He replied.

Rial looked over at Nila. "That still only gives us with Jerry and Nila alone together. And we don't know what happened to either of them."

"Don't you think that's too obvious?" Mindy asked. It seemed she was trying to protect Nila.

The sniper glared at her, and she returned the favour.

"Then let's go back over the scene of the crime. There's still a few things we haven't been over." Veronica said.

"Like the kniiiiiife!" Mason cheered. "Yeah! That's still a thing!" He looked over at Mindy with a small tilt of the head. "Don't think I've forgotten."

The knife? Right! There was a knife. "Probably from the kitchen."

Talia crossed her arms. "I checked the kitchen this morning, and nothing was missing." She looked away.

"Nothing was missing?" I repeated. "Then where did they get the knife?"

"Where do you thiiiiink." Mason teased.

Where else could the knife have come from?

"N-Nila?" I asked.

"Bingo!" He yelled out. "The only person to actively carry knives around. And it looks just like the one she used when everyone first started getting infected."

He had a point, it was her knife. "Nila?" I turned to look at her.

"It was not me!" She called out. "I would never." She frowned.

Rial glanced at her. "The knife is clearly yours, so it had to have been done by you."

"It was not!" Nila said.

"I'm sure this is all a huge coinciden-" Mindy said.

"Shut up! Bitch!" Mason yelled at her.

She seemed really ticked off at that. "What the hell did you just say to me!"

"This is a mess…" Veronica sighed. "But Nila can't defend herself if she doesn't remember what happened."

Nila looked around, really worried.

She doesn't remember anything, doesn't she. So even if she did kill, she wouldn't be able to confess…

Nila took a deep breath. "I do remember, but I was not with him when he died. We got seperated. I did not say I remembered because I thought you would all accuse me right away."

"Likely story…" Rial said.

"I am being honest this time!" She said. "I did not kill him because he found a way to talk me out of it. He was really good with words."

"A manipulator when he's infected?" Matthew asked. "Interesting."

Nila nodded. "He even convinced me to give him one of my knives. Then while walking, I somehow lost him. I think he ditched me. I ended up next to Richard's Attraction."

Rial thought for a moment. "That doesn't change much of anything. You were still the last one to see him alive." He said. He then looked at the ground. "Unless anyone else has anything."

"We should probably spend more time thinking." Veronica said. "We don't want to make a wrong decision."

I nodded. "Right, if it's not her, and we vote for her. It'd be bad."

"Yeah. I think there's something we are still missing." Katrine said.

"This seems finished to me." Talia said.

Veronica looked at her. "No, it's still too soon!"

"Alright, geez!" She crossed her arms.

Denise looked over at her. "Normally, I would agree with you, Talia, but she's right. Something definitely seems off."

Mason tilted his head slightly. "I mean, probably. There's still so much we haven't used as clues!"

"Then why were you hellbent on accusing Nila?" Denise asked.

He simply laughed. "Because I choose someone, and always accuse them as much as I can. But now it's boring, so I'll actually try to help."

He says that, but he did bring to light that it was Nila's knife, which got her to open up.

"So four people out, one dead, and the rest of the three all said they were somewhere else…" Matthew started saying.

"No one else left the diner." Talia said.

"I still can't believe I was infected." Jeremy said, not helping.

Ashton rubbed his head. "My head still hurts…"

Wait a second… something doesn't add up… Talia's statement… but why…

That's it! "Talia, that can't be true. Someone else had to have left the diner!"

She looked at me. "Why do you say that?"

"You told me yourself. The door was locked." I said. "And I don't think you can lock it without a key."

"Yeah, I have the only key. And I keep it where no one would dare try." She said.

"Where?" Mason asked, eagerly.

She looked at him annoyed before reaching down her shirt and pulling it out.

"Valid." The comedian replied. "I ain't going to steal that."

She rolled her eyes. "Trust me, if someone tried to steal it. I'd know."

"So, how could they have locked the door from the outside."

"Well…" The waitress thought for a moment. "You got me there."

"It's more likely that someone else locked the door upon coming back, hoping that no one would realize they were gone." I said.

"But who?" Ashton asked.

I don't know the exact person, but I can conclude why someone would have gone…

"The person who received the note." I concluded. "We still don't know what happened to them. And, their note was left at the scene of the crime. Since Nila went with Jerry, she couldn't have left that there. And with him frozen up, he probably didn't drop it himself."

Rial slowly nodded. "You bring a valid point."

"So, we are taking this back to the start, with the note." Matthew said. "Now if that's true, we need to figure out exactly how the culprit instead got the drop on Jerry."

"It would have to be someone Jerry thought he could take in a fight." Jared said. "Or maybe someone he thought he could, but they turned out to be infected." He glanced over at Jeremy.

He tilted his head slightly. "Hey, the bear said that nothing about me changed."

"What did he exactly try and change?" Denise asked.

"Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. "It's a seeeecret!"

"Not helpful!" She yelled back.

Jeremy waved his hand. "It's probably irrelevant anyways, because I didn't do it."

"He probably could have lured Mason." Mindy smirked. "Seeing as anyone could fight him."

"They probably could." He agreed. "But, no."

Rial shook his head. "Just accusing one at a time won't do us any good. Let's just figure out how they got the drop on him."

"It's likely that they threw him in the water." Matthew said.

Mason thought for a moment. "Or maybe Jerry swung for them, they avoided it, and he fell into the water!"

The director thought for a few moments. "That can also work, but unlikely."

"Fair!" The comedian said.

"So they probably went to hide at the nearest place." I started saying. "Which should have been the changing rooms, but they might have been blocked off by Jerry. So the next place to go to would have been Mindy's Ultimate Attraction."

"They probably couldn't block the door because it was busted." Mason said. "So they should have went deeper."

"There's not exactly anywhere to hide." Mindy said. "Behind the sculptures, but that's it. Jerry would find them without any problems."

"They would have needed to leave them to the back area to kill them." Veronica said.

Katrine thought for a moment. "I don't think they were even trying to kill Jerry, if anything, they were just trying to run away."

"They wouldn't have known that the valve would have done what it did." Mindy said. "Heck, I didn't know it would burst like that."

"That doesn't put us any closer to solving this." Jared said.

Matthew hummed in thought. "Or maybe it does…"

"What are you thinking of?" I asked him.

He kept thinking, before looking up at me. He shook his head.

"Hey, we never figured out what those scratch marks on the ice were, right?" Jeremy asked.

I thought for a moment. "Right, we didn't. But, now that I think of it…"

"The knife had to be it. Jerry must have using it before his upper body got frozen." I said. "Then he dropped the knife."

The surfer nodded. "But I felt like a knife was a little far from where Jerry was. If he actually dropped it, it would be much closer."

I looked at the ground. "That's true. It could have also bounced that way."

Jeremy tilted his head. "Possible." He smiled. "But maybe something else happened? Some of those marks were kinda out of reach."

What else…?

"Well, what if the killer tried to free Jerry?" I said. "Everything else mentioned suggested that the killer was trying not to kill."

The surfer nodded. "And, when that didn't work, they must have freaked out and left quickly."

"They couldn't have used my tools because I keep that locked away." Mindy said.

"Which leads tooooo…" Mason started to say. "What were they trying to do with the valve. If they didn't know what it could do, why turn it?"

"Well, they could have simply hoped it would help them." Mindy said. "They wouldn't know what it does, but it doesn't take a genius to know it affects something in the room."

"Yeah, but if the killer was trying hard not to do anything, why leave it up to chance for what it did?" Veronica asked

"There's still the possibility they didn't even know what it was." Matthew said. "So, it was an accident."

"Pfft!" Mason said. "What else could they think it was?"

"A valve." Mindy deadpanned. "It doesn't look like anything else."

Actually, I did remember that it could look like something else…

"It can also look like a doorknob." I said. "Whoever it was tried to escape to another room, maybe to block Jerry out."

"Why not just block the entrance to the building itself?" Ashton asked.

Well…

"The door was clearly broken, so anyone heading there would know it wouldn't keep anyone else, and would be much harder to block with your body." I said.

"Still…" Mindy said looking off to the side. "Confusing a valve for a door knob?"

Mason tilted his head slightly. "Wow, whoever did that must be blind as fuck! Or just really stupid. Like Ashton over here!"

"Hey!" He yelled out. "I was knocked out, so it couldn't have been me!"

He laughed a little. "I know."

Wait… maybe not blind… but… Not having the best vision…

"Katrine?" I asked. "You lost one of your contact lenses in the explosion, didn't you?"

"Yeah? What about it?" She frowned slightly.

I looked at the ground for a second before looking back up. "You had claimed…"

.

_On closer inspection, I noticed she was missing something. "Hey, you lost one of your contact lenses." She seemed to have brown eyes as her natural eye colour._

"_I am?" She asked. "I didn't notice. Well, I don't actually need them. I just use them to change my eye colour."_

.

"Was that the truth?" I asked her.

Katrine looked off to the side a little bit. "That was just so you wouldn't worry. I have terrible eyesight without them. But the explosion destroyed all the ones in the store, so I couldn't get a new one."

I frowned even more. "You're also the one who said it looked like a doorknob."

.

"_What about this doorknob?" Katrine asked, despite it clearly being a valve._

_Mindy laughed a little. "That's a valve, although it does look more like a door knob, now that you've mentioned it. It controls the pipes. I found it turned all the way, so someone was messing around with it. Probably trying to lower the temperature." She glanced to the side, to look at Jerry._

.

Katrine remained silent. She wasn't going to refute any of the points being made.

"And, it would make sense why so many things didn't work out for Jerry. All things based on luck." I said. "But, you did try and save him, right?"

She looked at the ground. "I… didn't want anyone to die. I avoided trying to fight and just wanted to lock myself up. I tried to save him, but there was just so much ice…"

Jared frowned. "All of this was just a huge accident?"

Katrine nodded. "I should have ran back, but he was blocking my path."

Nila frowned slightly. "If I was not infected and was there, I could have done something-"

"Well, luck isn't permanent." Katrine said.

I looked at the ground some more. "Do you want me to go over the case before we vote?"

She smiled softly. "Yeah, I'd like that."

.

"Act 1: Jerry would wake up the day before the murder as infected. But he was probably very manipulative, so it didn't show right away. But, he already had a plan of attack. Soon, when night fell, he wrote a note of invitation to the pool to the culprit. He knew they wouldn't dare turn away the invitation, they were pretty nice. And, they were probably too tired to realize that this was dangerous.

.

Act 2: Before Jerry gave the note. He went over to Nila. Somehow, he managed to sweet talk her into helping him out. He freed her and the two went to leave the kitchen. At that moment, Ashton had just woken up, hearing some people talk. He went to explore. To keep him from knowing what was happening, Nila knocked him out with a pan.

.

Act 3: The sound of Ashton falling down alerted Rial, who woke up. But, with being infected and half asleep, his judgement wasn't the best. He saw two figures walking out of the restaurant, and he decided to follow them. It didn't take him long to end up getting lost. So he had no idea what was going on after that point.

.

Act 4: The culprit had woken up around that time, since they were also woken up by the falling. They read the note that was left for them, and decided to go see what was up. They left the restaurant to meet Jerry at the pool. She didn't know who it was at time, since she hadn't seen the note before.

.

Act 5: Jerry managed to get Nila to give him one of her knives, all part of his infection. Then, also managed to lose her. So at this point, she doesn't know what else that happened. She's out of the picture for the time being. Then, the culprit would arrive to the pool, where Jerry was waiting.

.

Act 6: Jerry attempted to kill the culprit right then and there, and dump their body in the water. But, you could say the culprit got lucky and avoided the attack, sending Jerry falling into the water. They thought that'd be it, but they climbed out and chased them. They tried to hide out in the Ultimate Ice Sculptor's Attraction, but because the door was busted, they couldn't keep him out.

.

Act 7: Once inside, the culprit managed to avoid most of the attacks, but they was soon pressed against a wall. Trying to avoid being killed, they saw what looked like a door knob. They turned it trying to open a door, but because they couldn't see properly, they didn't know it was actually a pressure valve. This burst the pipe that Jerry was standing next to, which started to freeze the water he was drenched in.

.

Act 8: Eventually, the ice covered his hands, and he dropped the knife to the ground. The culprit, not wanting to die, grabbed the knife and tried to break them out, which created the scratches. When that didn't work, they freaked out, took a few steps back, dropped the knife, and then ran off..

.

Act 9: Finally, the culprit would arrive back at the diner, and locked the door behind them to make it seem like no one had gone out, but Rial and Nila being out really messed that up. They went back to sleep, trying to hope this was all just a dream.

.

This crime could only have been committed… by you, Katrine Pagsusugal, the Ultimate Lucky Student." I couldn't hold it in anymore and I almost started crying.

.

"Well, isn't that devastating!" Monokuma yelled with a laugh. "This is the despair I live for! Now, it's time to cast your votes!" He announced.

I looked down at the screen that was in front of me. I extended my hand to press her icon, but stopped myself. I couldn't… I couldn't send her to her death. She was the closest person I had here.

She looked at me for a few seconds with a look that told me to just do it.

I let out a sigh, and pressed the button.

.

Soon, the votes would be compiled, and it would be found that indeed, Katrine is guilty.

Monokuma let out another laugh. "You guys found out who the blackened is!" He cheered.

"This is not funny!" Nila yelled out.

"It's kinda funny!" The bear said before laughing again. "This is my favourite part of the trial. The part, where you all say sweet goodbyes!"

"Monokuma, stop talking!" Ashton yelled out.

Katrine let out a sigh. "I guess accidents count anyways."

"Murder is murder, no matter if it's manslaughter." Monokuma said.

Rial looked at the ground, crossing his arms. "Yeah, makes sense."

"It's what I get for being a beacon of bad luck." Katrine said, looking away. "At least I won't be a burden anymore."

"Hey!" Ashton yelled out. "Don't say that about yourself. You were never a burden, and helped us out as much as you could while you were here!"

"Right!" I said. "You helped out a lot in both investigations." I frowned slightly.

Katrine walked over to me and gave me a hug. "Well, hopefully I don't have to meet any of you on the other side.

"I've prepared a very special punishment for Katrine Pagsusugal, the Ultimate Lucky Student!" Monokuma started to say.

She frowned slightly. "You didn't get to see me with my favourite hair. I look amazing with ruby hair." Her frown turned into a smile. "And with emerald eyes."

"Let's give it everything we've got! IT'S... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"

She waved at me. "Bye." She said it with a smile…

.

Katrine Pagsusugal has been found Guilty! Time for punishment!

.

Katrine would open her eyes. She was tied up to a wall. Glancing around, she noticed that she was stuck to a wheel that could spin. Soon, Monokuma came up and gave the wheel a good ol' spin. She was spinning around in place. After a few moments, knives were being hurled at where her head was originally. Luckily, it missed her her a few times, as well as any other limbs. But, at one point, a knife was heading straight for her head. It would have killed her, had the wheel not gone off the wall and rolled away. It went down an incline until it crashed into a wall. It burst apart, setting her free. She walked forward a few steps while she gained her barings back. Then, the door behind her locked shut. And, she would soon realize where she was. She was in a slot machine. And the exit was on the other side of the screen. A giant Monokuma was playing slots. She took a deep breath before running across the screen. At this moment, he spun the slot machine and the icons started moving. And, instead of it being a 2D thing, the icons popped out. She got smacked by a Monokuma head. She walked some more, and soon, the other four spots stopped on Monokuma heads. This was the jackpot, and a bunch of coins started raining down. They all had Monokuma's head on them. She managed to avoid most of them, but her hand got pretty injured by a falling one. Then, she fell down she fell down amongst the rest of the coins. She seems to really be injured by that, but she pressed on. She saw a door she could open up to escape as more coins fell around her. She was lucky and didn't get hit by anymore. She opened the door and ducked out right as a coin landed where she was. She started running away in the big open space. Soon, the giant Monokuma got really mad and started shaking the machine, which started tipping over. Katrine needed a place to hide. She saw an opening in the floor and was about to jump down into it before she stopped and sighed. This would go on forever, the pain being constant. She just let out a small sigh, and let the slot machine fall her, taking her out of this cycle of pain.

.

I stood watching the whole thing, a few tears rolling down my face. This place was a nightmare become reality…

Rial looked amongst all the sorrow in the room. "We should head back." He turned around to walk away. "No reason to stay here."

I watched everyone leave, and, since I didn't want to stay down here alone, I followed them up to the surface.

Everyone went back to their place, while, I decided to sit down on the side of the fountain.

Soon, someone sat down beside me. I glanced over at who it was, only to see Veronica looking at the stars. I decided to also look at them.

"I'm… sorry for your loss…" She mumbled. "Well, everyone's loss I guess. We were all friends." She looked down at the ground. "Losing people is always hard…" She let out a sigh. "I had a mom and sister before, but…" She trailed off. "Never mind."

I looked at her, and I was going to ask what happened to them, but it was clear she didn't want to talk about it. I looked back up at the stars. "Yeah… This is the first person really close to me that I've lost. At least that I have memories of."

Veronica nodded at what I said. "Yeah, you don't start realizing how many you actually lose over your life until you're older, when you start to understand it more." After a few more moments of silence, she stood up. "Well, it's getting cold, and some sleep might do you some good. I say we head back to cottages." She smiled sweetly, offering her hand to help me stand up. Although she was short, so it wouldn't really help.

I stood up. "Yeah, some sleep should do me some good." I walked away towards the cottages.

.

Thirteen Students Remaining…


	6. Ch3: Heaven and Hell Unite-Daily Life

It was the day after both Jerry and Katrine died… I had woken up like normal, and made my way to the cafeteria. Everyone else seemed to be there besides Jeremy, it seemed. Even Jared was there, and he rarely joined us for breakfast. I got my food and sat down, mostly alone. I didn't really want to talk to anyone. I barely caught any sleep last night because of what happened…

Soon, someone sat beside me. I knew who it was without even looking. "Hey Veronica." I said.

"Don't sit alone at a time like this. Because then, you are just left alone with your thoughts."

I looked down at my food. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

She grabbed my tray of food. "Come eat with the rest of us…"

I glanced up and noticed that everyone was actually sitting at the same table for once. I followed her there and sat down.

Ashton saw me and sat down. "Hey! Everyone's here for once."

"Isn't Jeremy not here?" Miranda asked.

The racer stayed silent for a moment. "Hey! Almost everyone's here for once!"

"Where is Jeremy, anyways?" Rial asked.

Talia shrugged, taking a bite of her food. "Beats me."

"Well, seeing as a murd-" Matthew started to say, but he was ignored.

"Well, this is as close as we'll get." Ashton continued, looking at Jared. "You're normally never here!"

He looked up at him. "Well, I normally just stay at my building. It's what I'm used to, after all sometimes."

"Yeah, Jared's used to always being alone!" Mason said. "What a sad, sad, existence."

He stood up. "What was that?"

"I'm not scared of you." The comedian replied. "So, I would sit down."

Jared looked at him for a few seconds before sitting back down.

"That's what I thoug-" Mason started to say before getting slapped.

"You're annoying." Denise commented, having been the one to slap him.

The comedian rubbed his cheek. "That's fair."

"Shouldn't a new area be opening up now?" Matthew finally said.

Talia thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, an area did open up around this time."

Then, the doors to the cafeteria opened. "Well, there is a new area." It was Jeremy. "I went to go check myself."

"What kind of area?" Rial asked.

The surfer chuckled a little bit. "Like I would ruin the surprise for you. You'll have to come and see." He then left the cafeteria.

The rest of us looked at each other before we ended up leaving.

Soon, we reached a gate that had recently opened, and we were finally able to see inside. Well, we could finally see that our vision would have been blocked by a thick fog. "What kind of section is this?" I asked.

Rial crossed his arms. "Probably some horror section."

"Ladies first." Mason offered.

Nila walked into the area, clearly not scared.

"Hey! At least be a little scared!" The comedian yelled as he ran in.

Rial watched them leave. "Well, there's no point in just waiting."

"S-still." Veronica said. "It does seem a little scary…"

"Pfft!" Ashton called out. "Why would I be scared of this place!"

Then, a sound could be heard.

"What the hell was that?" He quickly called out.

Rial looked up. "A bird." He replied. There was a raven perched on top of the gate.

"Yeah! I knew that." Then he went in.

Then, we eventually all went in. It wasn't long before we all lost one another because of the fog. Although, soon, I reached a building.

It seemed like a rather large mansion of sorts, but it was really rundown. If I had to guess, this was a haunted mansion of sorts. I slowly opened the door, which seemed to creak.

The interior of the mansion definitely lived up to the haunted part. There were some old cobwebs near the ceiling, and some vases were scattered across the ground, shattered.

I would eventually hear some footsteps coming from the distance. Not to say that I was scared, but I was uneasy. When I turned the corner, I would find the source of the noise.

Jeremy was walking around the living room, looking at all he could. Unlike me, he didn't really seem on edge. If anything, he seemed to like looking at all the things. I walked over to him. "Is this the only place here?" I asked.

He glanced over at me, shaking his head. "I saw a few other places on my way here, but none interested me." He approached a wall that had a painting. On the frame, there seemed to be a button. He pressed it, and a spike trapped popped out, but stopped right before reaching his face.

I jumped back, thinking one of us was going to die, but Jeremy seemed unphased.

"That was a close one!" He called out. "But I don't think anything here will actually kill us." He walked forward, and, as he approached, the spike trap retreated into the wall. "Probably sensors." He explained. He looked around. "There seem to be a ton of things around here, and, giving the right people, could be used for bad."

I nodded, looking around. "This place gives me a bad vibe."

"It's not that bad." He looked around.

"Anyone else here?" I asked him.

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, Talia is also here, but she went looking for something."

"Where?" I asked him.

He stopped walking for a moment. "I think the basement. But this place is also kind of maze in the lower levels. Hallways don't really make sense." He explained. "So don't go further than the first basement."

"Multiple basements…" I mumbled. "Right." I kept walking around the house.

After a while, I found the stairs leading to the basement. Heading to his advice, I only went down one flight of stairs, not that were another set to go down. If I had to guess, the stairs would be elsewhere. As I walked around, the creaking the floor made was really unsettling. But, I figured it would be like this. After a while, I heard some shuffling coming from a room. I entered the room, and saw Talia moving some stuff.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

This seemed to make her let out a small scream before turning towards me. "Don't sneak up on me!"

"The floor was creaking." I replied.

She looked at me for a few seconds before going back to looking around.

I walked into the room. "What are you looking for?"

She moved some stuff away. "Apparently, this room has what's keeping this entire area of the amusement park going. I'm looking if I can find the power for whatever is keeping the fog machine going."

I thought for a few moments. "Yeah, I guess a fog machine would make sense." We spent some time looking around until she finally opened a panel.

"There's the fucker." She said seeing a switch. "Although it doesn't turn it off completely…" She frowned. "Just a high or low setting." She switched it to low. "At least we won't have to worry about losing our way." She walked out of the room to explore some more.

I walked out and went off to also explore some more. Then, I happened across a door. Opening it revealed that there was a gate in the way. Behind that gate, was the stairs to head further down into the basement. I didn't want to mess with that, and, this place was already giving me the creeps. So, I found it wise to leave now.

Leaving the mansion, the thick fog was still there, but I could see more than I could have before. That was a really good idea.

I started walking around, trying to go in a different direction than from the way I came. And soon, I would stop in front of a building. I could hear some eerie music coming from inside. As if the one provided by my mind wasn't enough. Well, I have to at least explore this place a little. I opened the door, only to have the sound grow louder. And it would grow louder as I made my way further. At the end of the hallway, there was a door. This is where the music was coming from. I took a deep breath before I opened the door. Inside…

Miranda was holding a violin, standing in front of Nila. The two stopped to look at me. "Oh, I didn't hear you walk in."

"You were playing that music?" I asked.

She smiled. "Yeah. I used to help with horror soundtracks since I was really good with it. I don't do just soft music. Wouldn't be an Ultimate if I was limited."

I looked around the place. Several violins were around the area, as well as a few other instruments. "I take it this is your lab?"

She nodded. "Seems like it is." She went back to playing.

"We kinda got lost and ended up here." Nila said. "So we decided to stay."

"No point in going out if the fog is that bad." Miranda added.

"Actually, Talia took care of that. It should be clearing up now." I said.

Miranda glanced outside the window and noticed that, yeah, it was clearing up a little. "I'd rather stay here. It's nice to play some music again in a nice room." She went back to playing, but this time, it was much softer.

Nila seemed really happy listening, so I didn't want to bug them any further.

Around the room, there seemed to be a variety of instruments, but,

Most of them were still violins. There were also a few guitars, and also a drum set. They seemed really nice and expensive. It almost seemed like before we came here, there was something else here, since the instruments looked to be there for a long time. Only the violins seemed new. A room repurposed for an Ultimate Attraction? I look at the two before deciding to leave. There were a few other places.

After some more walking, I happened across another building. This one was bigger than the last one. I opened the door, and it didn't make any sounds.

Looking around the place, it was rather dark, but not like the haunted house was dark. The haunted house was eerie darkness. This was just normal darkness. I placed my hands on the wall, searching for a light switch. Once I found one, I flicked it on. And, one by one, the lights turned on revealing a studio-like area. There was some part of the wall that was missing it's wallpaper. Or at least it was torn

I was busy looking at the lights when I glanced down and freaked out when I saw a person standing in front of me wearing a mask.

They laughed as they removed the mask. It was Denise. "I wasn't even trying, that time." She examined the mask. "This place has a lot of cool costumes. If it didn't have a studio, I would claim it was my place."

I looked back at the set I was looking at. "You're right. This must mean it's-"

"Mine. Yes." Matthew said, standing behind me, seemingly. I was expecting it, so I didn't freak out at that time. He took a few steps forward. "This reminds me of the studios I always worked in." He walked up on the set. "Kinda makes me miss it. We should hold a pla-"

"No." Denise said. "The people here don't seem like the best actors." She glanced off to the side. "Besides, there weren't that many costumes here, and I don't want to have to make any."

I looked over at Matthew. "Besides, we wouldn't be performing in front of anyone."

"You'll be performing in front of me." He said.

"No." Denise replied again.

The director took a sigh. "Fair enough."

I walked over to the set that was there. I glanced up and noticed that the lights weren't really set. Veronica would love to set those up, but, I don't know where we would acquire lights from. Probably backstage, but…

The set itself seemed like a home of sorts, there was a living room at the center, and off to the side was the kitchen. And, the other side was the entrance. There were also some stairs leading to the second floor. It was a rather simple set up, but giving the right play, this could come to life. I made my way further into the building, eventually finding the back room.

I opened the door, looking around the place. There were a few costumes, but there weren't many like she said. I walked around the area. Despite not having many, there was still some variety. Soon, I came across something that looked like a wooden mannequin of sorts. I stared at it for a few seconds. There were some lines attached to the limbs. I didn't know what it could be used for, but given enough effort, it could probably look like one of us. I kept walking around. But, there didn't seem to be anything else of interest.

I was going to leave, but Denise entered the room right before. "See, there really isn't much…" She took a costume off the rack and held it out in front of her. It was some rather old clothes, probably for a movie of sorts that happens way back in the past. "I don't know what kind of movie they would try and make here." She placed it back on the rack. "You can leave now, I'll just be looking around."

I nodded at her and left to head out. When I headed out, the fog was even more gone. Good thing Talia did what she did. I could actually see a building in the distance that I hadn't been too yet. I walked over to it, and was going to open the door. It was locked. "What the? Locked?" He noticed that there was a keypad that he could input a code into. After a few seconds, the door opened.

"What do you want?" Rial was standing in the doorway. He hadn't opened the door.

"I was just investigating the place." I said. "Is this your Ultimate Attraction."

He nodded. "It's the code I always used. Monokuma must have found out what it was."

"Am I allowed to go in?" I asked.

He remained silent for a few seconds before glancing away. "If you want, but don't think I'll let everyone come here because they feel like it. After today, this place will be locked up for good." He opened the door wider.

I walked in and knew why right away. There were all sorts of weapons around the place. All sorts of different guns. Several knives. "Do you use all of these?"

He shook his head. "A lot of these forces me to get close up." He nudged the rifle on his back. "I like taking out a target from a distance." He walked down the row of weapons. "The only close range weapon I'd use is this…" He grabbed a shotgun. "I don't know why, it's just fun to use." He placed it back. "But I rarely ever carry it around with me."

"Well, if you don't use any of these, why would they be in your lab?" I asked. "It doesn't really make much sense."

He shook his head. "I might not use them in live combat, but doesn't mean I haven't used them for practice. Besides, in other situations, I might have to get close and personal with whatever is lying around. It's also good to leave other choices open."

I looked around some more. "Am I the first person besides you that's been in here?"

He shook his head again. "I tried to open this and enter alone, but Mindy snuck in right behind me, and she wouldn't leave." He looked away. "Everyone here can be annoying. Luckily she didn't see me enter the passcode, so she shouldn't be able to get in next time."

I looked around, but didn't see her anyone here. "Where is she?"

Rial glanced off to the side. "She's in one of the various training rooms here."

"Training rooms, I didn't think there would be any here." I walked over to some doors. I opened them up to see Mindy testing out a pistol. She wasn't that great, but she seemed to be getting most of the shots in the center. I covered my ear after the next gunshot because it was pretty loud, and echoed throughout the room. I took some noise cancelling headphones and put them on. At least, until I get her attention. Once I did, she lowered her gun and took off her headphones.

"What?" She asked right after I took off mine.

"Why are you practicing?" I asked her.

She looked over at the target. "It's fun. I've never used a gun before. You should try." She offered the pistol to me.

I took a step back. "I'd rather… not. It's not really my thing."

She looked at me, slightly annoyed. "Then what are you doing in a training room?"

I didn't quite have a reason for that besides, "Well, I wanted to see what you were doing."

She looked at me for a few seconds before quickly putting on her headphones and going back to shooting.

"Alright! Alright!" I covered my ears and headed out, making sure to place my headphones on the wall.

"Didn't work out like you would have hoped for?" Rial asked, leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed. "Beside that, there's nothing else of note in this building. Well, at least that I've found." He pointed to a back area. "There should be another room there based on the dimensions of the building, but I haven't found one. So maybe the walls are just really thick."

I thought for a few moments. "Well, if there doesn't appear to be anything no matter how many times you search, then maybe there's nothing."

Rial hummed in thought before nodding. "Might be some paranoia." He stopped leaning on the wall. "Well, you probably have more places to explore, you can head off now."

I'm pretty sure that was him kicking me out. Not wanting to impose, I left the building. The fog barely cleared up since the last time, I'm guessing this was as much as it would clear. It was still somewhat hard to see, and it added to the horror factor.

After a bit more walking, I finally came across what appeared to be a cemetery.

I continued to walk towards it, eventually I reached the gate. In the fog, I could see what looked like a chapel at the end. I let out a sigh and opened the gate. There was a loud creaking sound. As soon as I entered, the gates creaked shut.

I walked for a bit through the cemetery. The most unnerving part, was all the unnamed graves. But, as this was probably just an exhibit, there probably weren't any bodies under there.

After even more walking, I spotted someone standing in front of a grave. It seemed to be Ashton. I walked over to him. "Hey, what are you looking at?"

He didn't seem to say anything as I walked over to him.

I took a glance at what he was looking at and frowned slightly. With all the unnamed graves, these ones stood out. There were four names, all of whom had died here. "Oh…" I heard myself mumble.

He nodded. "I saw writing and decided to see what was written… but didn't expect to see this…"

I let out a small tear reading all four names. I hadn't cried in the trial when I found out it was Katrine. And, I didn't cry after she died. I held it in. But seeing this just hurt a lot. I let out a few tears.

I heard someone walking behind us. I glanced over at them and saw Jared.

He saw what was on the graves and frowned slightly. "I'm not sure if I should be mad at the bear or not."

I didn't know either. It was not what I wanted to see. But, at least we had a place to fully pay our respects...

"Do you think he'll add other people-" Ashton started to say.

"No." Jared said. "He won't add anymore names because no one else will die. I'll make sure of it." He seemed rather confident in that. But his frown drew bigger.

The three of them just remained silent for a bit.

Ashton finally broke the silence with a sigh. "Standing here won't help us… we should continue to check around." He said that, but he didn't make an attempt to move. After another minute, he finally started to walk away.

"I should probably leave too…" I mumbled. Standing here any longer would probably be worse.

Jared nodded. "I should head back to see where the cameras are." He then walked away, leaving me alone.

I let out a sigh and headed to the chapel. I opened the door, and felt somewhat at home. It wasn't creepy or anything. In fact, it was completely normal like a chapel should be.

This was most likely my Ultimate Attraction. I spotted someone reading a book and as I approached, I realized it was Mason. "What are you doing?" I asked him, curious.

He closed the book and placed it back. "Just searching for more material for my jokes!" He said. "What a load of bullshit."

I looked at what he was reading and noticed it was the Bible. "Can you not talk like that about it."

"I can do whatever I want." He replied before walking around the place.

I let out a small sigh. I wasn't going to kick him out, but I didn't like how he was treating all of this.

I walked over to the back of the room, where a statue stood. I'm surprised Monokuma didn't put his own touch to it, and instead, left it like I should be.

I heard someone walking over to me, I assumed it was Mason, so I turned to look at him, but instead, found Veronica.

"It's a really nice statue." She commented

I nodded at that. "It really is…" I thought for a moment. "I haven't been praying since I got here… Maybe I can come here now…"

Veronica looked like she was thinking of something. "I can come here with you if you want."

I thought for a bit. I then shook my head. "You don't have to."

"It's better than being alone." She replied.

I thought a little bit longer before nodding. "You're right…"

Suddenly…

Bear!

"Wow, a chapel just for you!" Monokuma said. "Exciting! And it fits so much in the horror section!"

I looked at him for a few seconds before speaking up. "Why are you here?"

"I'm honestly hurt. I just came to say hi and to tell you about an event I have planned tomorrow!" The bear said.

"Event?" Mason called out from the other side of the room. He walked over to us. "What kind of event?"

Monokuma laughed. "It's a seeeeecret! You'll just have to find out tomorrow when I blindfold you against your will! Whoops, forget I said that!" And then he vanished.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" I said.

Mason shook his head. "It can't be a motive already. And I don't think he'd directly kill us unless we killed someone first. I'm sure it's _fiiiiine_."

He brought up a good point… but I had my doubts. For now, we returned to the central area.

Everyone else was already gathered in the cafeteria.

"I don't think we should go." Ashton said. "It's Monokuma, why would we go to an event he wants us to go to."

"The way he phrased it, it doesn't seem like we have much of a choice." Rial said. "I say we go just to get it over with."

Jeremy nodded. "I say we go too. There's not much to fear anyways."

Talia crossed her arms. "Of course there's plenty to fear."

"Exactly!" Ashton called out. "Going there would be stupid."

"But like Rial said, we don't really have a choice on the matter. We are at the will of the beast." Matthew said.

There was just constant back and forth arguing. Honestly, I didn't want to go, but they were right; We didn't have a choice. "It's probably best if we don't make Monokuma mad." I said. "I say we should just go when he calls us."

Everyone else remained silent.

"Alright… I guess…" Ashton said. I didn't think I would change anyone's mind. I thought I didn't have any influence on the others.

"For now, let's enjoy the rest of the day." Veronica smiled.

And like she said, we enjoyed the rest of the day. I spent some time talking to various people. And soon, nightfall had already come upon us.

.

The next day, I woke up to the usual Monokuma morning announcement and made my way to the cafeteria. Everyone was already gathered, and, once again, Jared was there. Probably because of the event.

"Alright. We all agree to go?" Jared asked.

Everyone nodded, slowly.

"Then let's go!" He said.

Denise raised her hand. "Yeah, where are we going?"

The officer thought for a few moments. "Right. We have no idea what Monokuma wants from us…"

"Nor which time he will appear…" Matthew thought. "If anything, it's possible it won't even happen till tonight."

There were a few moments of silence, which, we all thought Monokuma would appear to make a point, but he didn't.

"I guess… we just wait?" Ashton said.

"Or we just go doing whatever until he calls us all." Jeremy said. "Well, I'm heading to my Attraction. Want to come Jared?"

Jared nodded. "Yeah, that sounds fun."

The two of them left.

I guess I can go whatever in the meantime…

.

After a few hours, all the monitors seemed to light up. Well, at least the one I was near, and I could only assume that all the other

"Hello one and all!" Monokuma said. "You remember that special event I talked about? Well, it's going to be happening now! You should all make your way to the Haunted House for an exciting journey! I promise not all of you will die!" Then the TV shut off.

Maybe this was a bad idea. I let out a sigh. But there would probably be problems if we didn't go.

Soon, we all made it to Haunted House.

Monokuma was standing at the doorsteps. "Wow! You all made it. I thought I'd have to punish a few of you!"

"We all showed up!" Jared said. "Now what do you want?"

"Puhuhuhu! Don't be hasty. I think you should all make groups of four!" The bear said.

Matthew started counting. "We're thirteen."

"How unlucky." Monokuma commented. "Normally there's twelve of you by now. Anyways. I guess there will be a group of five. Now get to group making!"

Of course, I decided to be in the same group as Veronica. But, we needed two other people, or three more.

Soon, Jeremy walked over to us. "Hey, mind if we tag along?" He asked. He had Miranda with him.

I didn't have any objections. And, if we were going into the Haunted House, maybe having someone like Jeremy would be really useful. "Yeah, sure."

The other two groups were Mason, Denise, Jared, and Talia. And finally, Ashton, Matthew, Mindy, Nila, and Rial.

"Group one!" Monokuma responded.

No one responded, because we weren't given any numbers.

"Oh, right." He then pointed to our group. "You four than go first!"

That's kinda what I hoped wouldn't happen. "What will we be doing?" I asked.

"I just wanted to do a tour of the haunted mansion. And it's basements." He laughed. "So let's do this."

Jeremy smiled. "That sounds really fun."

Miranda shook her head. "I'd rather not. I didn't explore this place because it kept giving me chills…"

"You'll be fine." He reassured her. "Nothing here will kill any of us, I tested it out before."

I don't think that helps…

"Now, off you go!" Monokuma said, trying to push us into the house. Once we were in. He closed the doors on us.

"At least we don't have to deal with him while we look around." Veronica said.

Suddenly.

Bear!

"Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. "I have multiple copies! You don't have to worry about not seeing me."

"Great." She sighed.

The bear started walking, albeit slowly. "So, some of you explored the main area already." He stopped walking and headed towards a button. "But I think what you didn't know was…!" And then he pressed a button.

That button just so happened to be connected to a trap door.

A trap door… that we were standing on. The entire entrance opened up on us and we fell, all while the sound of laughter echoed throughout the building.

We had landed not far below, on something… mostly soft. It was a mattress, but it wasn't the best. I slowly stood up, my legs hurting slightly. I looked around and noticed that the rest of them were here. I looked up and noticed that there was only a small opening in the ceiling, leading to this room. That was weird… It didn't feel like we hit any slides on the way down, so did we just fall into that tiny hole? But the whole floor itself opened up.

Jeremy stood up. "That actually explains a lot. The map had a weird layout, and there seemed to be paths connecting to the basement without there being visible stairs there. The only stairs down are somewhere else."

Miranda slowly got up, rubbing her side. "That… was not fun…" She walked over to a wall. "5B?"

"Five basements?" Veronica asked. "That's a lot of basements…"

Jeremy nodded. "The place is pretty big…"

Suddenly…

The bear got kicked by Miranda who freaked out thinking something was going to attack her.

Monokuma hit the wall. "Ow!" He rubbed his body. "This is the thanks I get?"

"You don't deserve any thanks." Veronica said. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I thought it'd be funny!" Monokuma laughed.

Jeremy looked at the bear. "Want to know what would be funny?"

"What?" He asked.

He tilted his head at the bear. "Miranda kicking you again."

"That doesn't sound very fun." Monokuma said. "And I only want to see you guys be scared. All you have to do is make it up to the top floor! Puhuhuhuhu!"  
"We don't know how to get out…" Miranda mumbled.

Jeremy laughed a bit. "I kinda remember what the map looked like. He headed towards the door. "Let's go." He opened the door, and what appeared to be a vampire jumped out at him. All three of us jumped back in fear, except Jeremy, who just laughed again. "It's just a cardboard cut out." He pointed out, pushing the thing aside. "Is that the best you can do, Monokuma?"

He grumbled something as he passed by them.

"Guess it is." He commented. "Let's head out. This floor should be easy enough…"

The four of us walked out of the room, and realized really quickly that there were no lights in the hallway. The only light we had was from the room we had just left from. This made us all uneasy, except, once again, Jeremy. He seemed really fearless.

We would keep hearing noises coming from the other rooms, and we didn't want to find out what was making them. Monokuma kept trying to get us to open the doors, saying the way out was that way. But, Jeremy didn't stop. He kept going. Eventually, we reached an open room which had a single light in the middle. It was hanging over what seemed like a well. Except, well, it wasn't exactly one.

"What's that?" Miranda asked.

Monokuma walked over to the hole. "This is a bottomless pit! If you fall down here, you're sure to die a painful death!"

"Isn't falling to your death painless, since you die on impact?" Veronica asked.

The bear remained silent for a few seconds before pouting. "You guys are no fun…"

"Is it truly bottomless?" Jeremy asked.

Monokuma nodded. "It sure i-IIIIIIIIIIII!" That was the sound of him falling after Jeremy shoved him in.

We heard him falling for what felt like a good minute before we could no longer hear him anymore.

"Guess it is…" The surfer mumbled.

Miranda shook her head. "You didn't have to do that…"

Soon, Monokuma would come back into the room. "Don't do that again!" He yelled out.

"Fine." Jeremy sighed.

Veronica walked over to the bear. "Seriously, do we have to go through all of this? Is this for some motive you have planned?"

He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope! I just want to see you all cower in fear at my genius!"

"W-where do we go now?" Miranda asked.

Monokuma took out a map out of seemingly nowhere. "Let's see…" Then he tossed it into the bottomless pit. "I don't know! Find your own way!" And then, he was gone.

"What do we do?" The violinist asked.

Veronica started walking further. "We find our own way…" She opened a door, which lead to another hallway. This room was actually adorned by doors to all the hallways. It was like a center room in the basement. We continued on down that hallway. We would open various doors and find some ruined beds. But nothing much of interest. One door held a trap that almost killed Miranda, who had opened it, and freaked almost all of us out. But it stopped right before reaching her. From that moment, we stopped checking doors, and decided to just continue down the hallway. Which, would turn and weave, by the way. It was like a maze down here. Eventually, we reached a door that was different from the others.

"I think this might actually be the stairs." Jeremy said as he opened the door. They were indeed the stairs. "This way." He smiled to himself. He was the first to go up the stairs, then Veronica, and then Miranda, and finally, I was in the back. In case something came at us from behind.

We finally reached basement 4B.

It actually didn't seem as creepy, but, was still nonetheless creepy.

"This is better… I guess…" Miranda mumbled as she looked around.

Suddenly, the sound of falling could be heard in a room nearby. Maybe some screaming. "We should go check that out." I said as I walked over to the room where I thought the sound came from. "It could be the next group." I slowly opened the door to see Monokuma yelling at a group.

"You couldn't have fallen one floor lower!" He yelled out. "You all missed the bottomless pit that Denise was going to chuck Mason into eventually."

"Hey!" Mason called out. "That isn't very nice!" He wasn't saying that to the bear, he was saying it to Denise.

"Oh shut it, I wouldn't have done it. You get on my nerves, but not that much." She rolled her eyes. She stood up, dusting herself. "Now my clothes are covered in dust…" She mumbled to herself. She looked up and saw us. "You got dropped here too?"

Jeremy shook his head. "Actually, we got dropped a floor below."

"Fun." Was her reply. She glanced over at her two other group members.

Jared was kinda frozen because Talia had landed on him. "S-sorry!" She mumbled quickly getting up with a blush.

"Damn lovebirds." Mason said annoyed. Denise smacked him.

"I guess you two groups can explore the rest of this place together…" Monokuma said sadly. "Welcome to 4B! The floor of weird… floors…"

"What do you mean by that?" Talia asked, looking at the floors.

The bear pointed to the floors. "You can faintly see the floor below through these large openings!" He explained. And, yeah, there were openings that almost cut the middle of the floor in half. It was only held up by small wood planks on the side. But without being told, we wouldn't even have noticed. "And this floor has the same exact layout too!"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jared asked.

Monokuma thought for a moment. "Well, if you have a friend on the floor below, you can mess with them."

"That doesn't sound really interesting." Talia said.

He went silent for a bit. "Well don't look at me like that! I'm just working with what the people who built this place did."

Mason tilted his head slightly. "Are you saying you didn't build this place?"

"Who knows?" Monokuma asked.

Denise glared at him, annoyed. "Us, you just told us."

"EEP!" He said, realizing he was caught.

"Can we just continue on?" Miranda asked. "Staying here is just giving me the creeps…"

"Fine…" Monokuma sounded disappointed. He walked out of the room sadly, and then opened another door before closing it shut behind him.

I watched him leave. "Well… that was something…"

"We should find our way out now…" Jared said. "What basement is this?"

Jeremy pointed to the wall. "4B. We still have a few floors to go…"

"Then we should hurry up and make it out. We don't want to spend hours here…" He replied.

We spent some time walking, but, as Monokuma said, the floor had the same layout as the bottom one. So it wasn't like we got lost. We just went through things in reverse. Soon, we came across the next set of stairs and made our way up.

This floor was probably the worst one so far… Well… Not creepy, but the walls and floors were covered in a sort of slime. It would suck to get trapped on this floor. Which reminds me. As we walked across 3B, we heard the distant sound of screaming, but they kept going until probably the bottom floor.

"Was that the other group?" Miranda asked.

Denise tilted her head to the side. "Sounded like it."

"I'm sure they will be fine." Jeremy said. "They don't seem like a group that would get scared easily."

"I feel like that's a jab at us." I said.

He simply shrugged.

Talia started to walk forward. "I just want to get to the next floor. This one is too gross…"

Denise followed her. "Yeah… same…" She placed her hand on the wall. And when she moved it back, her hand was coated in whatever slim was on there. "I don't want to know what that is…"

Luckily, this floor was actually quite easy. We found the next staircase rather quickly and moved on to the next floor. The only problem…

"I can't fucking see!" Denise commented, looking around in the pitch black darkness.

"Don't be alarmed, I have a flashlight." Jared said. Then came the sound of something falling to the ground. "Shit…" He mumbled.

"Did you just drop it?" Mason yelled out.

It sounded like Jared knelt down to look for it. "I'll find it rather quickly…"

Then came the sound of someone accidentally kicking something. "Oh no!" Miranda mumbled as she had just hit the flashlight, supposedly while walking around.

"Great!" Mason yelled out.

"I didn't mean it…" The violinist replied.

"Let's just go…" Talia said as some footsteps started being heard. Seemed she had started walking.

"This isn't that bad. We'll get used to the darkness, so for now, let's try not to move too much." Jeremy said.

And, as he said, we stood there for a few minutes. Soon, our eyes adjusted to the light, well, at least enough for Jared to grab the flashlight a few feet away.

He turned it on and the area not covered in light went back to being dark ."We should go now."

This floor wasn't that bad. A few jumpscares here and there, as well as Mason trying to mess with Talia and Denise. But besides that, it was rather a normal floor.

We finally reached the first basement floor, and we were so close to the top.

"Well, this was fun!" Mason commented. "I hope to never do this again."

Jeremy chuckled a little. "It was actually quite fun, I wanted to explore this place more on my own, but I couldn't."

Talia glanced at a room. "There's where the fog machine controls were. And also the room for the camera controls… The stairs are over here." She pointed out, and we made it up in no time.

Monokuma was waiting for us at the top. "Finally made it out?" He asked. "Puhuhuhu! Now you know how truly bad this Haunted House is. I should have made this place myself, and it would actually be scary. But honestly, I just wanted to drop you all five floors." He laughed again.

"Figured." Denise deadpanned.

Jeremy walked over to a sword like thing. It seemed familiar to anyone who played Danganronpa. "Hey, what's this cool looking sword?"

The bear walked over to it to look at it. "Oh, that? That's just a red herring. It's meaningless to this story, but not another."

There were a few moments of silence.

"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Mason asked.

Jared examined the blade. "I think he means that someone is going to use this weapon to kill."

"That's not what red herring means." Denise replied, annoyed.

Monokuma couldn't help but laugh. "Who knows what I meant."

Jeremy picked up the sword. "Is it a real one, or is it dull?" He started swinging it around.

Miranda's face grew a little pale. "Put it down before you end up hurting someone!"

He did like he was told to, but, instead of placing it down gently, he just let go of it mid swing. The sword flew right over Monokuma's head, almost going right through his head.

"Yeah, let's not grab anything like that again." I suggested.

Veronica went over and picked up the sword, before placing it back where it belonged.

Monokuma was in a corning, fake sobbing, holding what appeared to be a diary and a pen. "Dear Diary, December 3rd, Jeremy almost kill-"

Talia glanced over at him. "December 3rd? Is that really the date?"

This didn't make him too happy. "Yes! It's the date!" He threw the pen and diary away, probably only writing in it to get a small semblance of pity from us.

Talia actually smiled warmly, slightly, barely noticeable. "Then that means tomorrow is my birthday."

Monokuma was now sweating. "Did I say December 3rd? I meant November 3rd! Actually, there's not even any snow outside, so it can't be any of those days. It's actually June 6th!"

"You didn't even keep the number the same…" I mumbled.

"Shut up!" He yelled at me. "So what if I didn't? You're at my beck and call about this! You have no way to verify the date?"

"Hey look, a clock with the date." Jeremy pointed out, to a wall.

That was promptly knocked off the wall by Monokuma. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Amongst all the talking that was happening, the final group finally made it upstairs. So, Ashton, Matthew, Mindy, Nila, and Rial.

"That was awful." Ashton commented. "Why would you ever do that to us!"

Matthew nodded in agreement. "Yes, I've seen more effort put into a movie with sharpie and a toothpick as the budget."

Ashton turned to look at him. "That's not what I'm getting at!"

A wicked smirk appeared on Monokuma's face. "Alright, now that everyone is back here! I have an important announcement to make!"

"Ugh… don't tell me it's the motive…" Talia said.

The bear tilted his head slightly. "It's something like that. But, it's more so a message to a certain someone. I won't say who it is, because I'm nice!"

"Rather, I think it would hinder you to tell us." Rial pointed out.

Monokuma remained silent for a few moments. "Anywaaaays! What I was getting at iiiiiiis…!" A dark gleam appeared in his eyes. "I know you've been snooping around. And you might have found some stuff you shouldn't have!"

"Like what?" Jeremy asked. The bear didn't even give that a response. He shrugged. "Worth a try."

Monokuma continued talking. "Now, I can't do something to you, directly, but, that doesn't mean I can't get someone else to do the deed for me!"

"I can do it!" Mason said chiperly.

Rial crossed his hands. "We've been through this ordeal twice, I don't think someone will kill just because you told them too."

"Puhuhuhu!" He laughed. "It's because they don't have a choice… They owe me a favor, and I can cash in at any time! And that time is now!"

"What could any of us have possibly done to owe you a favor?!" Ashton asked.

"Oh, you assume it happened here? What's stopping it from having happened long before? You do know, 17 people for a class is irregular… Maybe… someone slipped in. Not like any of you would know, you've all lost your memories!" And then he started laughing again.

"It's Ashton!" Mason announced with a smile.

This obviously got a reaction from him. "What? NO! Why would I ever do that!"

"You won't find out who the traitor is!" Monokuma called out. "But maybe I can give you all a hint on who was snooping around!" He laughed a little more. "The person who went where they aren't supposed to… Well, let's just say they have two talents." He paused for a bit. "Somewhat. It could be considered one, but it's still pretty different!"

"And that helps us how?" Jared asked.

The bear shrugged. "It's not." And then, he was gone.

"What now?" I asked.

Rial glanced off to the side. "It's getting pretty late, and this whole ordeal was rather annoying. I'm heading to bed."

That seemed to be the general consensus as everyone left. I started to leave, but was quickly stopped by Jared.

"Hey, you heard when Monokuma told us the date, right?" He asked me.

I slowly nodded. "Yeah, it's early december."

He nodded back. "Well, Talia mentioned tomorrow would be her birthday. Maybe we should try and do something for her. I need someone to distract her."

I remained silent for a few seconds. "That doesn't mean me ri-"

"No, I don't think you'd be able to keep her busy for long." He replied.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence…" I mumbled. He walked away as I continued to head back to my room. Maybe something like this is what we need…

.

The next day, I would wake up to the Monokuma morning announcement. I yawned as I got ready to head out.

Once I got to the cafeteria, everyone would be there, except for Talia and Denise. Normally they'd always be here early, but then I remembered what Jared told me last night. I walked over to him. "Are you setting up already?"

He glanced over at me and nodded. "Morning would probably be the best time. That way we have the most time! And also, Denise and Talia are hanging out at the pool, so it's better for it to be day time."

"I see. So, what's the plan, and how can I help out?" I asked.

Jared thought for a few moments. "Well, you can ask Jeremy for something. He's the one setting up a lot of the things. Says he's been to a ton of great parties."

I nodded and made my way over to Jeremy, who had a clipboard in his hands. He saw me walking over to him and waved. "So, what do you need help with?"

"Nothing." Was the short answer I got.

I stood there for a few seconds. "There's nothing you need me to do?

He looked down at his clipboard, which I realized upon looking was blank. When he noticed I saw it, he threw it behind himself, crossing his arms. "Nope, you can look around and see if anyone needs your help. There's the decorating crew, and the food crew."

I let out a sigh. Might as well check the kitchen first. Walking in, I found three people…

"Have any of you actually prepared any food?" Rial asked, harshly.

"Hey! I know how to cook!" Mason yelled out. "You think because I'm a _guy _I can't cook?"

Poor Miranda was in the middle of this mess, just trying to make some food.

"Huh…" I looked at the group of three. I got the attention of Rial and Mason, but it seemed Miranda was using this opportunity to cook in peace. "I didn't think this would be the cooking crew…"

"Me neither, I just think Mason is trying to mess up the food." Rial crossed his arms.

"Hey!" He called out. "I like making food, and it just so happens I'm somewhat good at it. I had to when I traveled so much, and I didn't want to eat fast food all the time. What about you? I don't think someone like you would like cooking."

The sniper crossed his arms. "I don't really like cooking, but having you here doesn't sound like a good idea."

Miranda let out a sigh. It seemed like it had been like this for a bit. "If you both can at least cook, at least help out instead of arguing…"

"Fine by me!" Mason said with a smile.

Rial didn't seem too pleased. He just stood there for a few seconds.

I took this time to retreat. Yeah, I should probably help with the others…

When I walked back to the front, I noticed that Ashton, Matthew, and Nila were setting some stuff up. And… also that Mindy wasn't helping. I still hadn't seen Veronica yet, which worried me, but she was probably off doing something else.

I walked over to the group of three.

Matthew was nodding to himself. "Yes, that's good…"

Ashton turned to look at him. "Are you sure? It seems a little off!"

The director thought for a little longer. "Once you let it go, it should fix itself."

The racer let go, and, once it moved a little on it's own, it adjusted itself.

"See?" He asked. "I know what I'm doing."

He remained silent for a few seconds before giving a thumbs up. "Sorry I doubted you!"

I walked over to them. "Mind if I help?"

Matthew thought for a few seconds. "We're pretty much done, you can go maybe help Nila."

I'm starting to think no one wants my help. The next person I tried to talk to was Mindy, who was just sitting alone. "So… what are you doing…?"

"Nothing." Well, at least she was honest.

"Why aren't you helping?" I asked her.

With a tilt of her head, she smirked. "I don't really care about birthday parties. Never got to celebrate my birthday, so they just disinterested me."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't try for someone else." I said.

She stood up. "I don't really do things for other people most of the time. The ice sculptures were mostly for me, because I was bored."

"Well, aren't you bored now?" I asked her.

She looked at me for a few seconds. "No."

This wasn't getting anywhere.

Well, the last person in this room was Nila, who was cutting up some paper. Probably for some decorations. She seemed really cheerful doing so. I sat down next to her. "Hey do you want some help?"

She looked over at me with a smile. "Some help would be nice."

We spent some time cutting up some stuff. "I didn't know you liked arts and craft."

"As long as I can cut something, it is fine." She smiled sweetly.

Although… that seemed like she meant something else, judging from what we saw a few days ago.

"Hey, Gregory!" A familiar voice called. Sounded like Veronica, but I couldn't see her. "Up here!"

I glanced up, and there she was, up on a fixtures, changing some lights. It seemed… rather dangerous. Especially since the only thing keeping her up there were her legs wrapped around a metal beam. "I-isn't that a little too risky."

She tilted her head slightly. "Probably. I'm breaking a lot of OSHA rules, but it's fine."

"S-still! If you fall!" I was really worried.

She leaned back so she was hanging by her feet, she started adjusting a light. "I've done this before." And, she did it flawlessly before pulling herself back up. "Alright, it should all be done. At least, for decorations…" She glanced over at the kitchen. "Not sure about the food."

"No! That's not how you make that!" Mason could be heard yelling from the back.

"Seems to be going fine…" I commented

Soon, the group in the kitchen would come out.

Rial had his arms crossed. "... Turns out the idiot really can cook, but still, it's only slightly above passable."

Miranda smiled sweetly. "I think we all did fine. I hope she likes it."

"Then I will go fetch her and Denise!" Jared smiled as he left.

Things were turning out nicely. This is probably something we really needed. Although… something still concerned me. Mindy's mood wasn't a good one. She didn't seem to like birthday parties, but she also wasn't leaving. Hopefully she doesn't start anything.

After several minutes, Jared eventually came back with the two.

Talia seemed annoyed that she had been dragged away from the pool. "So, why do we have to have a meetin-" She stopped when she saw what was around the room. She stood there frozen for a few seconds before a small smile appeared on her face. "I didn't think any of you heard that passing remark…"

"You're very vocal!" Mason called out.

"Shut up." Talia deadpanned. Although she didn't seem as harsh with it. "You didn't need to do it." She smiled.

"In that case, let's just stop the party." Mindy said. She was hit by a clipboard. It's a mystery who did it. "Oww!"

"Let's just start eating." Miranda smiled as she sat down.

Talia looked down at the food. "So, who made this?"

Rial crossed his arms. "Miranda, Mason and I made the food."

She kinda froze. "Mason didn't do anything funny to the food, right?"

"Shut the fuck up and eat, bitch!" Mason yelled out.

"I'll shove it up your ass!" She yelled back.

"You do that!" He said back.

Although they were yelling at each other, it didn't seem as rude as it should have sounded. Especially since she started eating, and didn't complain. The rest of us followed suit.

"So were you a distraction?" Talia asked Denise.

The designer crossed her arms. "I would have rather help with decocation, but yeah…"

"I planned." Jeremy smiled, holding the clipboard.

"Wait a minute!" Mindy realized who had hit her.

I glanced over at the surfer. "Wasn't that blank?"

"Made me feel cool." He replied.

Matthew looked up from his food. "I know this is a time for celebration, but the things Monokuma said still bother me."

I looked down at my food. "Yeah… it bothers me too. But… this probably isn't the ti-"

"We can talk about it." Talia said. "I was pretty curious too…"

The director nodded. "So, since there's 17 of us, someone here doesn't belong… It would make sense for it to be a guy…"

"While the possibility of it being a guy is rather high, we still can't discount it being a girl." Rial brought up.

"It's Rial!" Mason called out.

"Shut up." He deadpanned.

"There was also something about someone snooping around." Matthew added. "Anyone want to come clean about that?"

There was silence.

He let out a small sigh. "Very well, but withholding that information won't do you any good, nor will it help us."

Still, nothing…

"This isn't working…" Jeremy crossed his arms with a small frown. "But it's not like we absolutely need to know. Maybe it's for the best, knowing whatever they know painted a target on their backs."

"True, knowing could just end up hindering us." Rial looked at the floor. "Monokuma could just decide to dispose of us all."

"We should probably go back to eating, this whole thing is a lost cause." Jared said.

I nodded. "Yeah, let's just enjoy ourselves instead of worrying over that."

The rest of the meal was met with pleasant talk. It was probably some of the best time we had here, or, as much as we could have here.

Although… Mindy didn't seem to be enjoying herself. "Hey… is everything alright?"

This was probably a bad question to ask, because she seemed kinda ticked off now. "No, why are we wasting our time doing this?"

"Excuse me?" Talia said.

Mindy smirked, looking at her. "I'm saying, celebrating something so trivial as a birthday is a waste of time, so much effort wasted on one person."

The waitress stood up. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"What I mean is, everyone wasted their time for this. And it's really no time to be celebrating anything…" She replied.

Talia was silent for a few seconds. "You know, you're right. I'll be heading back to my room." She grabbed her plate of food and left, just like that.

"Mindy? What was that?" Nila asked, concerned.

She simply ignored the question, instead, standing up. "Well, I'll be leaving too." And ignoring everyone else's glare, she left.

"I worked on this meal all day-" Mason started to say.

"It was an hour." Rial answered.

"All alone-" He continued.

"You weren't." Miranda replied.

"And this is the thanks I get? Well, that's fine." He seemed unfazed by all of this, like he didn't really care.

"I'll go and try and talk to her." Jared said, probably speaking of Talia. Someone would need to talk to Mindy about this too.

Nila got up. "I could maybe try and talk some sense into Mindy, something was clearly wrong…"

The rest of us just sat there. The mood was really killed by all of this...

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. None of us really wanted to talk much. Soon, it was the end of the day.

.

I woke up the next day, having heard the Monokuma Morning Announcement. I let out a small yawn as I got ready to leave.

Once I got to the cafeteria, I noticed five people hadn't arrived yet. Jared, Matthew, Mindy, Rial, and Talia.

"That was bullshit." Jeremy said with his arms crossed. "I want a redo!"

Denise shook her head. "That might not be a good idea."

"But all my efforts…" He frowned slightly. "Plus, her day was ruined yesterday, we need to make it up to her!"

"I agree!" Mason called out, which was weird. "But, we probably won't." Ah, there it is.

Ashton pumped his fist together. "Doesn't mean we should stop trying! Even if it takes a hundred times!"

"That's too much." Veronica added in.

"We'll make this perfect! Let's not just stop at making food! Let's try and use all the labs for a great day." He continued.

Miranda nodded. "I say we should, maybe we can make it better than it would have been yesterday, had nothing gone wrong."

"I'll get more supplies!" Ashton called out.

"I'll get some water guns!" Mason announced. "I gotta piss someone off!"

I looked around for a bit. "Where's Jared and the others?"

"Jared said he'd sleep in, and would probably skip coming to the cafeteria." Veronica said. "So he should be at his Ultimate Attraction soon."

"Matthew and Rial never showed up." Denise added.

I slowly nodded. "Then I'll go tell Jared about this." I walked out of the cafeteria. It took some time to get there, because, honestly, I had kinda forgotten where it was. I slowly opened the door, to see Jared looking at some cameras. He let out a yawn. "Hello." I said as I walked over to him.

He glanced over at me. "Oh, hey."

"How long have you been here? I heard you were going to sleep in." I asked him.

He thought for a second. "I'd say about fifteen minutes." His eyes kept darting between the cameras. "It's so hard to do my job now that so many areas have opened up…"

I glanced around, and, yeah, I was inclined to agree. "It does seem rather difficult. I wonder how many more areas there are."

He rotated his chair to stare at a blank wall of screens. "You tell me." He then rotated back to look at area 2's cameras. Then… something caught both our attention.

From our peripheral vision, we saw all the cameras in area three go out. Well, all but one.

"What the?" Jared said. His eyes looked at the one camera that was still on. It showed a silhouette entering the haunted house. He quickly stood up. "Something isn't right! We have to go there." And then he rushed out. I followed behind him really quickly.

Of course, he was faster than me, since, well, he's a cop, and my clothes kinda got in the way.

Soon, I arrived at the haunted house. He seemed to be waiting for me.

"Let's go in!" He said with determination. He walked over to the door, opening it with a bang. We both rushed in.

Standing in front of us, was Matthew, who turned to look at us. He must have been the silhouette that we saw walking in. That still didn't explain the cameras, but, everything seemed to be fine… That is until I glanced at Jared and saw that he was staring at something beyond Matthew. When I looked at what he was looking at, I froze in horror.

.

Blood was dripping on the ground, collected into a puddle. Next to it, was a knife, which was also covered in blood. The blood was running down their legs, which were hanging off the ground. Further up, their clothes were drenched in their blood. Their arms were pinned to the walls with nails, blood leaking out of there, which dripped down into another puddle of blood on the floor. Meanwhile, the main puddle of blood was coming from their neck, which appeared to be slashed. The body was that of the Ultimate Waitress, Talia Wayward.


	7. Ch3: Heaven and Hell Unite-Deadly Life

I couldn't believe what I was seeing right in front of me. For the third time here, someone had been killed. But what I feel makes this one worst is that her birthday just happened yesterday. We were going to make it up to her…

"Matthew!" Jared called out. "What the hell happened?!"

He remained silent for a few seconds before glancing back at the body. "I'm in the same boat as you, I just got here."

"Then I guess that would explain the silhouette." I said.

He glanced over at me. "Silhouette?"

I nodded. "All the cameras in the area turned off, leaving only one of them on."

He thought some more before nodding. "That is interesting…"

After a few seconds, we heard the familiar sound.

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

On the screen nearby, Monokuma appeared. He seemed rather content. "A body has been discovered! Please head over to the haunted house to come observe!" And then the screen turned off.

A second after it turned off, a voice yelled out from behind us.

"What the hell happened here?" It was Ashton, who seemed to have arrived as the announcement played. "I heard some noise and decided to come here, but I didn't think there would be a body!"

"We should wait till the others arrive before we start investigating." Jared said. "As much as it pains me not to do it right now…"

We waited, and eventually, everyone else showed up.

"T-Talia?" Miranda mumbled, seeing her body.

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Wow, what a turn of events. Killed the day after her birthday! Puhuhuhu!" He laughed.

"Shut up!" Ashton told him.

The bear was silent for a few moments. "I guess you don't want the Monokuma File?"

"W-wait!" The racer called out. "We want it!"

He handed us the Monokuma File.

.

**Monokuma File #3**

.

**The victim this time is Talia Wayward, the Ultimate Waitress. She died at 6:50 this morning when her neck got slashed. Her arms have also been stabbed into by some nails, to pin her to the wall. Nothing else to note.**

.

"6:50?" Jared repeated. "That's before the Monokuma Morning Announcement."

"That's really early to be out." Denise noted. "She must have had her reasons…"

Jeremy walked over to the body. "We can worry about that later, let's start our investigation.

He's right, we shouldn't waste any time. We don't know when Monokuma will call class trial.

The first thing I did was walk over to the body. As much as it pained me to do so.

The most glaring thing there was the killing blow, the slash at her neck.

"Hmm…" Jeremy stood beside me, thinking.

I turned to look at him. "Think of something?"

He shook his head. "The cut seems pretty deep and a little reckless…" He noted. "But, besides that, there's not much I can tell you. Besides she probably died instantly, I don't think you should live a few seconds after a cut like that."

A little reckless? And died instantly… Well, I'll take note of that.

The next thing that caught my attention, was the nails **embedded** into her arm. It seemed painful, but she probably didn't feel it after the neck slash.

"This, I'm at a lost of words for." Jeremy said, walking up to me.

I glanced over to him. "How come?"

"I don't think there was really any reason to do this. It seems like a waste of time." He said. "Especially if the single slash would have sufficed."

I agreed with him, but something about this kept me thinking that there was a specific reason…

The next thing I moved over to was the knife I had seen on the floor. Veronica was already looking at it. "Any off about the knife?"

She shook her head. "Just a regular knife. But, of course, this is the murder weapon. I don't think it would be a red herring." She poked the tip of the knife, before moving her finger away really quickly. "But still, there's still the slight chance that the weapon is different." She placed the knife back on the ground. "Well, I probably shouldn't be playing around with a blade."

Well, since I was here, I might as well ask Veronica what her thoughts on all of this was. "So, what do-"

"I don't know." She frowned. "There's so little info, unlike the other trials. Even the Monokuma File is almost empty. Something feels wrong…"

"Yeah… I get that vibe too, but I can't tell what…" I mumbled.

"Well, we've checked all there seems to be, might as well see if we can get any accounts from the other people." She said.

I nodded. That was probably the best course of action.

Since Jeremy was also in the area. I might as well talk to him. "So, you seem to almost always head over to the body." I was bad at talking.

He smiled. "No one else is going to do it, so I might as well be the one to do it. Besides, I don't mind."

"Even if it's someone you knew closely?" I asked.

He crossed his arms with a frown. "Is that weird?"

I shook my head, but yeah, it was a little weird. No one should be that comfortable with this.

Stepping away from the body, I looked around. I saw someone who looked very pain. I walked over to her. "Mindy, are you OK?"

She was frowning, looking at the ground. She refused to look at the body. "What… of course I'm fine…"

"You don't seem fine…" I pointed out.

"Do you think… this is my fault? That she was out so early?" She asked.

Yeah, I knew she was going to blame herself. "It's not your fault…" At least I hope it's not her fault… "Her dying and the argument last night probably aren't connected…"

She didn't say anything else. This was going to hit her hard…

I moved over to the next person, who was Rial. I remember he was one of the people missing. "Rial, where had you been this morning?" I asked.

He glanced down at me. "I went over to my Ultimate Attraction to find something. But, when I got there, I realized that several things were arranged wrong. Someone had gone there without my permission. Which is strange, because of the code I have on my door…" He thought some more. "Maybe I didn't close it properly last time. Anyways, nothing seemed to be missing, so I don't know what they were doing there." He thought some more. "Not even any weapon were taken."

"No idea, huh… Do you think it's related to this case?" I asked.

"Could be, but it could also not be." He looked at the ground. "No way to really know unless it becomes a point in the trial."

I don't think I would get anything else from him, so time to move onto the next person.

Matthew was leaning against a wall, seemingly thinking of something.

"Hey, Matthew." I said to him.

No response.

"Matthew?"

Veronica walked up to me. "I think he's really deep in thought. I don't think he will answer to either of us."

From the looks of it, that seemed about right… Maybe I should move onto the next person.

Jared was standing there, mumbling to himself.

"Jared, what time did you get to your Ultimate Attraction at?" I asked him.

He stopped talking to himself and looked at me. "I'd say about 10 minutes after the Morning Announcement."

"You didn't see anything else in the cameras when you got there?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It's hard to see everything at once, especially when it takes up so many screens. And the Haunted House has no cameras inside of it."

That's interesting. I don't remember seeing any cameras either… But still…

Veronica then spoke up. "So what made you rush over here? When the rest of us got here, you, Gregory, Matthew, and Ashton were already here."

"All the cameras turned off but one, so we rushed here." He explained.

I nodded. "We also saw a silhouette enter the building, but it turns out it was just Matthew."

She glanced over at Matthew, who was still leaning on the wall. 'What was he even doing here?"

We'll need to figure that out too…

The next person we spoke to was Nila. I didn't know what to ask her, so I thought I'd start with what happened last night. "Did you ever get to speak with Mindy?"

She frowned slightly. "I went to her room, but she did not want to talk to anyone, and would try and get me to leave. I could not even get into her room." She continued. "I did not get to see her till now."

So she has no alibi huh, well, that much was obvious.

Denise was standing nearby, with her arms crossed.

"What about you?" Veronica asked. "Did you ever have time to talk to Talia?"

She shook her head. "Never got a chance, she locked herself up in her room. I don't know what she'd be doing out early in the morning. And why she'd be here, too. It's more likely someone brought her here by force."

"By force?" I repeated.

"Well, liker I said, I don't think she'd just leave early in the morning to come here. Especially not after last night…"

Someone could have brought her here, that is a possibility I didn't think of. But she wouldn't have been brought without fighting…

We walked around some more until we reached Mason.

"Finally, I'm being talked to!" He called out.

"You're being loud." Veronica said.

The next thing he said was a quiet murmur that we couldn't comprehend.

"Now you're being too quiet…" Veronica was annoyed.

"Make up your damn mind!" Mason yelled out, before talking in a calmer voice. "Anyways…"

There were a few seconds of silence before Veronica spoke up again. "We're done here."

"Wait noooooo! Come back!" He called out as we left.

As we were walking away, Ashton called out to us. "Hey!"

We turned our attention to him. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know, something feels way wrong about this. More so than the other cases." He said.

Miranda, who was standing right beside him, nodded. "There's just so little to go off of."

"Well, yeah!" Ashton said. "But…" He thought deeply. "Something else is bugging me. I can't quite tell what it is, but it's there! My instincts are never wrong!"

I didn't know what he was trying to say, but, yeah, something did feel off. It's just a matter of what.

Not just that, but the person who should be talking, Matthew, hadn't said a word since everyone arrived. I walked over to him. Since he was the first to be on scene, it would be best if we got some info out of him.

But then, a familiar clicking sound could be heard. And, before I could have time to react, I was falling.

.

.

.

I woke up a few minutes later, having knocked myself out a little from the fall. Although I didn't hurt myself too bad when I landed. When my eyes finally adjusted to my surroundings, I realized that I was alone. Which was weird, because last time, a whole group fell down here. But, then again, Monokuma said that the trap floor led to many places. I got up and started heading to the door. Was this the killer's doing? I

glanced out the hallway, but couldn't see anyone else. Well, at least I knew the way out. I started walking down the hallway, but soon, I saw someone turn a corner to go down another hallway. It looked like Matthew. "Matthew!" I called out his name, but I didn't get any response. I ran to the corner he turned down, just to barely miss again as he turned down another hallway.

"What's going on…?" I mumbled to myself. I tried to follow him some more. This continued for a bit until I saw him enter a room. I ran down as fast as I could, these clothes weren't good for running. And once I entered the room, I froze.

.

On the floor, there was a few spills of blood, with the biggest one having a footprint facing towards me. There were a few more drops of blood heading towards a certain point of the room. The blood stopped when the body itself started, leaned against the wall, sitting was blood on their clothes, around the stab wound, but, besides that, no blood elsewhere except a few markings on the pants. I couldn't believe my eyes, but, sitting down, was the body of the Ultimate Director, Matthew Direkutā.

.

I stood frozen there, he had just been alive a few seconds ago. What could have happened?

"What the hell?" Ashton called out, having entered the room from a different entrance. "I've got to stop walking in on scenes like these!"

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

The screen that was totally always there turned on to show Monokuma. "A body has been discovered! But it would be no fun to tell you where it is, puhuhuhuhu! So everyone, meet back up at the top floor, if you can." Then the screen turned off.

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Wow, finding two bodies in one day? You two are on a roll!" He laughed. "Anyways!" He pulled something out of thin air. "Time to get another file!" He handed us what I could only assume to be Monokuma File #4.

.

**Monokuma File #4**

.

**The victim this time is Matthew Direkutā, the Ultimate Director. He was found dead on the bottom basement floor of the Haunted House. He died at 7:40 this morning from blood loss from a single stab wound to the stomach.**

.

I frowned slightly. The time matches up with what it should be right now. I could have saved him…

Ashton was also frowning. Maybe he had the same thought. But, then he spoke up. "There's no use worrying about what we could have prevented, let's start investigating!"

Yeah, that's probably the best course of action. But… there's not that much…

I walked over to his body to see the injury he had received. It didn't seem to be too deep, but, there's no way for me to know for sure. There didn't seem to be any weapons here, so I couldn't see how much of it was coated in blood… The killer must have taken it with them. But… where did they go? I glanced over at the third door. Probably towards the stairs…

I was about to get up when I noticed something sticking out of his pocket. I grabbed it to find a piece of paper. I opened it up and found a note written on it.

.

Meeting at 7:00am, with Talia.

.

"Well… that explains why she was here." I put the note in my pocket before glancing at Ashton, who was looking down a pit.

"You think they threw the knife down here?" He asked.

That's right… the bottomless pit. "It's possible, one way to get rid of the knife…" I looked down. It was dark down there, and we wouldn't ever be able to find what was down there. "We should head back to the others."

"What about this?" He pointed towards the floor where a puddle of blood at formed, with a footprint in the middle.

I looked down. "Yeah, maybe we can find out who's been down here."

"It seems like a girl's shoe print." He added.

I nodded. "Well, that should make our search easi-"

"Or a guy with very girl like shoes." He added right after.

Then, I guess I'll check everyone out anyways.

"But man, stumbling on two bodies in one day?" Ashton sighed. "Then the body discovery announcement played both times after I saw the body…"

"Yeah…" I glanced away, thinking about something… That is weird… something feels off about that, not how he said it, but what he said… We continued walking until we made it to the stairs. We climbed up, and while doing so, we heard some bickering.

"No! It's the other way!" Sounded like Mason.

When we got to the next floor, we saw Miranda and Mason talking.

"Are you sure, I remembered it being this way." She pointed to where we were, before realizing we were there. "Or… maybe not?"

"We just came from downstairs." Ashton said.

"Oh…" She went silent. "Guess I was wrong."

Mason seemed ticked off. "I told you." Then he softened. "Anyways! We should get going, before Monokuma gets impatient."

"We saw another body." Ashton said casually.

Miranda froze slightly. "T-that Monokuma Announcement was real? Two bodies?"

"Who was it?" Mason asked.

"Matthew." I informed the two. I handed them both the file. They read it for a few seconds.

"That's horrible…" Miranda frowned.

Mason thought for a bit. "Is it possible for two killers? Or is this still the same person?"

I… never thought of that. "That seems like something we should ask Monokuma."

"Anyways, let's get out of here." He added as we all started to walk away.

Miranda turned to look at us. "Did you two fall down close by?"

I shook my head. "We fell on opposite ends of the floor. We met up at the center room. And you two?"

"Rooms in the same hallway, so we've been roaming around the entire time." She said. "We got lost."

"And who's fault is that?" Mason smirked.

She crossed her arms with a frown. "I said I'm sorry…"

"Well, obviously-" Then he tripped, because karma. He quickly got up. "God! I hate this floor!"

I glanced down at the floor. "Yeah, it would be annoying." The floor still had those spaces between the wood. You can faintly see below, but it was hard to tell. "You two didn't see anything happening below, right?"

Miranda shook her head. "No, we were too busy focusing on our way out."

I nodded. That made sense.

Soon, we found our way to the next set of stairs and went up.

"I don't miss this floor…" I sighed, looking around at the floor. This one was the floor that was coated with something that sticks to your shoes.

"Hey!" Ashton called out. "Look at that!" He pointed.

I looked over to where he pointed and noticed that there was some bloody shoe prints, the same one as earlier, but the more they walked down the hallway, the more it faded.

That can't be good. "Don't tell me we won't be able to search for blood on people's shoes."

Mason lifted his foot and started shaking it. "This stuff is going to stick to our shoes for a while. I'm sure we can figure out who came to this floor or lower with that ."

That's a good point. "Well, let's continue on for now." As we walked away, I noticed that they emitted a faint purple glow, but that must have been my eyes playing tricks on me.

Nothing of interest happened on the rest of this floor, as well as the next floor.

However, the last floor before we reached the main floor had something of interest.

We were walking down a hallway when Miranda spoke up. "There's something weird in that room." She said.

I glanced over to it, and it seemed familiar. Right! It was the room I found Talia when she turned off the fog for this area of the amusement park. We stepped in to see what else was in here.

"A timer?" Ashton said as he walked over to a computer screen.

"A timer for what?" Mason walked over to see it to.

He glanced at the screen. "For the cameras."

"That's what must have been what caused the cameras to turn off." But, with a timer, was it done while the killer was away? Hmm…

Soon, we finally made it back to the main floor. Everyone was waiting there.

"Where's the other body, Monokuma?" Jared questioned immediately. "Although, it could have been on a lower floor, I was the first one up here."

Denise looked at our group. "Then that means… Matthew died… He's the only one that isn't here."

"Seems so." Jeremy said.

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

Soon, the screen lit up, showing Monokuma's face once again. "You know, I'd say that was enough time for investigation. You don't _all_ need to investigate the second body, so let's just say the people who discovered it was enough! Meet me at the fountain!"

Jared seemed kinda pissed. "We don't even get to check the second body?"

Rial shrugged, walking past him. "Deal with it."

Everyone else started walking away, and, I was starting to leave too, until I saw Veronica staring at something. "Hey, are you coming?"

She glanced over at me before looking back at the wall. She grabbed what appeared to be a poster of sorts, or, something like that. "It's a map… but, different…" She showed it to me. It actually showed which part of the trap floor lead to. This must have been used somehow. Veronica rolled it up before heading out the entrance. "Well, let's not keep Monokuma waiting.

I followed her, but stopped to look at Jeremy.

"Hmm…" He frowned slightly, looking at Talia's body.

"What is it?" I walked over to him.

He shook his head. "It's nothing, just felt like something was missing." He turned around and left.

Veronica shook her head. "Don't mind him, let's just go." She continued.

I let out a small sigh and followed her. Soon, we joined up with the rest.

"So, two of us perished today." Rial said, looking at the ground. "I hope we resolve this quickly."

Miranda nodded. "Me too…"

"For Talia, and Matthew, we will resolve this." Jared said.

Then, the fountain opened up to reveal an elevator. We all walked in and stood still as it started to descend.

We mostly remained in silence… The first time we had been down here, there were five more people with us. Now, it's starting to empty out. Only eleven people in this ride opposed to sixteen.

"So, did you find anything useful?" Veronica asked me.

I glanced over at her and nodded. "A few things, we found a note that Matthew might have written, as well as some bloody footprints. If we can figure out who they belong to, I think we can solve this case easily."

She thought for a few minutes. "I get the feeling it won't be that easy."

I frowned slightly. She's probably right. A lot of things don't add up, but, we need to figure out why…

Then, the elevator stopped, and we stepped out.

This time, the three deceased from last time had pictures of them at their podiums. Katrine had three red sevens, Talia had a fork and knife in the form of an X, and Matthew simply had an X, although it was grey instead of red. Like a black and white movie. We all walked over to our podiums, looking at one another.

_Several pictures appear_

_One of Miranda playing her violin_

_One of Jerry juggling._

_One of Jeremy waving casually._

_One of Mason smirking mischievously._

_One of Matthew stroking his chin._

This trial is going to be one of the most confusing one yet…

_One of Veronica holding on tightly to a wrench._

_One of Denise lowering her sunglasses._

_One of Nila with her hands held close to her._

_One of Richard, looking off into the distance._

_One of Talia holding a tray, looking angry._

_One of Rial, looking at the ground._

Two victims, and a murder that just doesn't make sense...

_One of Mindy, with an ice pick._

_One of Jared, adjusting his cap._

_One of Katrine, glancing away._

_One of Ashton, fist bumping himself._

_One of Gregory, looking determined._

But, we'll solve the inconsistencies here and now!

.

.

.

Class Trial

Commence!

I took a deep breath. This would be a long one. "I think the first thing we should do is try and figure out where everyone was when they were dropped.

Mason nodded at that. "Miranda and I were with each other most of the time on B4. But, we didn't run into anyone else but Gregory and Ashton, who had just come up from B5."

"Anyone else on those floors?" Veronica asked.

No one answered.

"Alright, then let's move onto the B3." She said.

"I was on that floor!" Nila said. "And also, so was Mindy." She explained.

The sculptor simply nodded, looking away.

"Alright, moving on… B2?" Veronica asked.

Jeremy lifted up his hand. "I was on that floor, it did take a while to get out, since it was so dark."

"I was on that floor too." Denise said.

There was a few seconds of silence. "I was also on that floor." Rial said.

"And that leaves Jared and I on B1." The technician finished.

I nodded. "Now, that should be where all of us were after we fell."

"Except, someone is obviously lying." Jared said. "We just don't know who yet.

I looked down. I could bring up the whole B3 to see who was actually on that floor or below, but I think I should save it for something else. "We should move on to the time of death of Matthew, that's one of the biggest mysteries right now. I was the last one to see him alive."

"You were?" Rial asked.

I nodded. "I had been following him, and calling out his name, but he never answered. He then walked into a room, and by the time I entered, he was already dead on the floor."

Ashton nodded. "And then I arrived on the scene shortly after."

"Hmm…" Jeremy was reading over the Monokuma file.

"We even saw a-" Ashton continued.

I shook my head at him, which got him to stop.

"What was that?" Rial asked.

"Huh, we saw a dead mouse too." He tried to cover for himself.

Well, that was… something…

"Hmm…" Jeremy continued to think while reading the Monokuma file.

I glanced over at him. "Did… you find something?"

He shrugged. "I might have."

"Then spit it out!" Jared yelled out.

"It's written right here in the Monokuma file." He turned the screen over to us to show it. It was the one written for Matthew.

"What's… wrong with it?" I asked him.

"That's for you to figure out." He said.

There's something in this Monokuma File…

"The cause of death?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yup, it didn't say he died from a stab wound to the stomach, it said he died from blood loss from a stab wound."

"Get on with it." Mason said, impatient.

"Get on with what?" Jeremy asked. And thus, his small streak of actually being helpful, ends. But, what could that be significant to… unless…

"Are you implying that Matthew was stabbed a while before he actually died." I asked.

Rial crossed his arms. "That's kinda what blood loss means."

"But I was behind him the entire time." I explained.

"Then… he was stabbed a while ago." Jared concluded.

I froze slightly. A while ago? How soon was a while ago? After falling down the trap floor, or, maybe even sooner?

"That does not make much sense." Nila mumbled. "Most people would seek help after getting stabbed."

"Yes, I find it hard to believe he was injured before." I said.

Denise looked down. "But, if he did die from blood loss like the file says, that means no one actually was in that room with him, and what Gregory saw was simply him falling down, having lost too much."

I thought for a few moments. There was nothing I could really do to deny this… but, when was still a factor.

"After everyone fell down, that would be very likely." Nila said.

"Likely, but then someone is lying about where they were." Jared said.

Veronica tilted her head slightly. "It's also possible it was even before we all fell."

"Before we fell?" I repeated.

"He was acting rather strange after a while." She said.

"That was right, after everyone showed up, he went rather quiet. Was he already stabbed by then?" I said.

Jeremy crossed his arms. "He didn't seem to have any injuries…"

"His damn arms are always crossed, probably doing so the hide the hole in his clothes." Mason said.

"Or we're really blind." Ashton spoke up.

Miranda frowned. "Was he trying to hold in the pain?"

"Who in their right mind would attempt to do that?" Mason said. "Get help, for Christ sake!"

"Maybe…" Nila trailed off. "He could not get help."

Not get help? But that's stupid… but… "What do you mean?"

She glanced up. "I- I do not know, I was just throwing ideas."

"Remember what Monokuma said two days ago, about someone snooping around?" Veronica said.

.

_Monokuma remained silent for a few moments. "Anywaaaays! What I was getting at iiiiiiis…!" A dark gleam appeared in his eyes. "I know you've been snooping around. And you might have found some stuff you shouldn't have!"_

"_Like what?" Jeremy asked. The bear didn't even give that a response. He shrugged. "Worth a try."_

_Monokuma continued talking. "Now, I can't do something to you, directly, but, that doesn't mean I can't get someone else to do the deed for me!"_

"_I can do it!" Mason said chiperly._

_Rial crossed his hands. "We've been through this ordeal twice, I don't think someone will kill just because you told them too."_

"_Puhuhuhu!" He laughed. "It's because they don't have a choice… They owe me a favor, and I can cash in at any time! And that time is now!"_

"_What could any of us have possibly done to owe you a favor?!" Ashton asked._

"_Oh, you assume it happened here? What's stopping it from having happened long before? You do know, 17 people for a class is irregular… Maybe… someone slipped in. Not like any of you would know, you've all lost your memories!" And then he started laughing again._

.

"Are you saying Matthew might have been snooping around?" I asked. Well, it did fit with his personality and all, but… hmm…

Veronica nodded slightly. "It's possible, but, we won't know for sure."

"Then why wouldn't he tell us anything?" Jared asked.

She thought for a few more moments. "His tongue was tied."

"They cut off his tongue?" Ashton freaked out.

"What? No." She said.

"Oh…" He mumbled, looking down.

Rial crossed his arms. "Are you saying that Monokuma made sure he wouldn't talk?"

"Still, I think he would have at least said something…" Nila frowned. "There was no message he left?"

There was the meeting message, but it wasn't any "about to die" message. He wrote it calmly.

"How deep was the wound?" The sniper asked.

Well, I wasn't that great with being able to tell that, but… "It didn't seem to deep, but…"

He tilted his head slightly. "Let's give it… about a little under an hour for a wound like that to cause someone to bleed out." He paused. "So, before the morning announcement."

Before the morning announcement… I was still asleep by then.

"I think something is becoming clearer now. A general idea of what took place." Veronica started saying. She frowned slightly.

"If we can figure out what he was doing, we might have an understanding of what happened!" Ashton said.

What was Matthew doing around that time…

"He had made a meeting with Talia at around 7 in the morning, so he probably ended up showing up early." I said.

"And based off the Monokuma File, so did Talia." Rial said. "They probably both showed up and met each other."

"Maybe a third party also went?" Ashton asked.

Mason shook his head. "I don't think that was likely. I think it was just those two in the building at the time."

Miranda frowned. "Then, that would mean."

Jeremy looked off to the side, silent.

"Hmmmm…" Denise hummed in thought. "If it was just those two, then it's most likely one of them did something."

"Let's concentrate on the weapon." Mason said. "Someone had to bring it. If it was those two, who was most likely to have brought the knife?"'

"Talia." I spoke up. "I don't really see Matthew carrying around a knife. And she could have easily gotten one from her restaurant."

"But, why would she bring one…" Miranda mumbled.

"Probably didn't trust Matthew." Mindy said, speaking up for the first time this trial.

"Shut up." Mason said. "The mature people are talking!"

"Plus Mason." Jeremy added.

"But which one actually used it…" Nila frowned.

The answer to that one is...

"Both, I think used them." I said. "It would explain why we only had found one weapon."

Mason nodded. "What happened was that Talia probably stabbed Matthew, but, still having a lot of strength, took out the knife, and slashed her neck. Then he tried to set up a scene or whatever." He waved his hand dismissively.

"He stayed silent, because if his cut was found out, he would be accused of murder." Jared noted.

Denise nodded. "That actually makes a lot of sense." She crossed her arms, glancing away.

Jeremy shook his head silently to himself.

"But then what about all of us falling?" Nila asked. "There really was no reason to have all that happen."

"Who's to say Matthew even had anything to do with that?" Ashton called out.

Veronica pulled something out, and unrolled it. "Well, this map should be proof enough, right? Based on where people said they landed, I managed to mark them down somewhere." She

Turned the map towards us. "There was even a place that marked where the mechanism could be activated." She pointed on the map. And, right beside it, an Ma was marked.

"That's where Matthew was, I presume?" I asked.

She nodded. "He was standing still the entire time, so he could have easily pulled the switch whenever he wanted."

"What reason would he have for that?" Nila asked.

"Probably to stop the bleeding." I said.

Jared nodded. "It would be risky to treat that wound with so many people around. Especially after the encounter with Talia."

"But why… why would she even do all this?" Miranda asked.

This all leads to one possible conclusion. The reason Talia would ever think of doing this…

"She… could have been the traitor." I said. "Monokuma could have made her do it."

Denise looked down. "The traitor?"

"But I thought the traitor was a guy." Nila said. "Either way, I refuse to believe Talia would be the traitor."

Rial crossed his arms. "Talia being the traitor would make sense… in this context."

"What do you mean by, this context?" Jared asked.

He simply shrugged. "Ignore me."

Jeremy lifted up. "While that is one possiblity. Let's continue with this line of thought. We should try and find more proof for this. Only two people actually saw Matthew's body. So, Ashton and Gregory, you will be what truly decides if all that's laid before us is true."

No pressure. But, "What exactly am I supposed to prove, or disprove?"

He shrugged. "I would tell you if I was there. But, like, maybe an inconsistency would be good. If one can't be found, we'll just assume that Talia and Matthew really did fight."

But, there's no other explanation. That had to be what happened. But, I'll try and find something. Something that's inconsistent…

That's it! "Matthew's clothes. There was only blood around the stab wound, and where the blood would have leaked because of gravity."

"What's the problem with that?" Ashton asked, clueless.

"If he had really been hiding his injury by crossing his arms…" I trailed off.

"His sleeves would have been covered in blood too!" Jared finished.

I nodded. "Exactly! But, there wasn't any other blood besides there. So he couldn't have been able to cover his injury."

Jeremy smiled. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

"So…" Mason trailed off. "That just proves that Talia didn't stab Matthew, right?"

Jared nodded. "It would seem so. But that can still mean Matthew killed Talia."

"We just need to figure out who killed Matthew, and why." Veronica said.

I nodded. Maybe this trial wouldn't be as bad as I thought. After all, I still had that one clue left. "We just need to figure out who was in the lower basement, and work our way from there."

"But, besides words, there isn't any other way to know who's been in the lower basements." Jared said.

Actually…

"B3's floor is actually what will allow us to verify where everyone was." I said. "It leaves a substance on the shoe that doesn't come off easily."

Denise rolled her eyes, remembering it very well. "I had to wash my shoes all night."

"So…" I trailed off. "Everyone besides Ashton, Mason, and Miranda, show us the soles of your shoes I guess…"

There was some silence, but eventually, everyone obliged. Mindy and Nila indeed had some of it on their shoes, just like they had claimed. Everyone else had none. But… there was someone who refused to show us his shoes.

"Rial…" I trailed off.

He glanced over at me. "I find it rude to try and look at other people's shoes."

"Show us your shoes!" Jared demanded.

He seemed really annoyed at this. "Fine." He lifted up one of his shoes, and it had a faint purple glowing to it, but it didn't seem to be the substance from earlier.

"There, see?" Mason said. "Why didn't you want to show us?"

"Hmm?" Rial glanced down at his own shoe before placing his foot back on the ground. "My shoes are a little weird."

"Aww! Rial has in-" Mason started to say.

This received a glare from him. "Shut up."

"Wait…" Miranda said. "The purple seemed familiar…"

The purple… seemed familiar?

"We saw something like it, I'm sure!" She quickly said.

We did? Where could we have seen something like that?

That's it! "This proves you were at a lower floor."

"Does it?" Rial tilted his head slightly, out of annoyance.

"Show us your other shoe…" I said.

He seemed a little hesitant. "I've already shown you why I couldn't be there."

"Just show us already." Jeremy said.

Rial let out a sigh before showing his other shoe. This one definitely had the substance.

"Why only one shoe?" Denise asked.

"Well, this tells us exactly where you were." I said.

.

"You were at the scene of the crime." I said.

He glanced away. "Perhaps I was."

"Then why lie?" I asked.

There were a few moments of silence before he spoke up again. "Well, I feel like no matter what I would say, I would be the one being accused of murder."

"We're fair here." Jared said. "We don't want to wrongly accuse, so we'd listen to what you have to say."

Rial took a deep breath. "Yes. I was there. I landed on B4, but felt like something bad was going to happen on the floor below, so I headed there. I didn't noticed the body till I stepped on the puddle of blood."

"That would explain why the Body Discovery Announcement played despite only Gregory and I being there!" Ashton said.

The sniper nodded.

"But, how did I miss you, I only got in a few seconds after he did." I said.

Rial glanced over at me. "Forget everything you thought you knew for this trial." He trailed off. "Because when you were supposedly following Matthew, he was already dead."

What…?

.

.

.

Intermission!

.

.

.

"Already dead?" Miranda repeated.

Rial nodded. "Five minutes after I left him there, the announcement played, which is when Ashton and Gregory met up, which was at the body. By then, I was already on B3."

"But…" I trailed off. "I was following him, there's no denying it. And the time I saw him dead matches with the Monokuma File."

He shook his head. "No, you only thought it was because of your preconception of Matthew dying after entering that room. In truth, he has long been dead."

Denise thought for a bit. "Now that I think about it, you investigated the body yourself, didn't you?"

"What makes you say that?" Rial asked.

"Well, for starters, when Gregory was asked about the wound, you gave an estimate of how long it took to bleed out, despite it being vague. So, that could mean you actually checked it yourself, but didn't want to reveal that yet." She said.

"Acute observation…" He smirked, or at least, it felt like he smirked. I can't really see his lower face because of the scarf. "Yes, when I first got there, he was still alive, and I tried to assess the situation. I tried helping, but I didn't have anything to stop the bleeding."

"What about your scarf?" Jeremy asked.

The sniper glanced over at him. "My… scarf?"

"You probably could have blocked the wound with it." The surfer said.

Rial shook his head. "No… I couldn't do that… Not with this scarf."

Denise looked at the scarf. "It doesn't seem that valuable."

"It's valuable, only to me." He said.

Mason laughed a bit. "Is that the only reason?"

This was received with a glare from Rial.

"I'll keep quiet now." The comedian said.

"But…" I trailed off. "That doesn't make sense. I still saw Matthew walking down the hallways."

Rial shrugged. "Must have been either someone pretending to be him, or… something else. Because I know what I saw."

"Not to throw a wrench in any of this, but if Matthew's clothes weren't covered in blood like he had been covering a wound, what does that tell us by the Matthew we saw upstairs?" Jeremy asked.

"That is most intriguing…" Rial thought deeply.

"Not just that…" I spoke up. "He also talked, and it sounded just like him. You can't tell me that wasn't him."

"Let's forget that for now, and go with what Rial is suggesting." Jared said. "You say Matthew was always down there?"

He tilted his head slightly. "Well, if the one we saw wasn't the real one, then yeah, Matthew had to be below. And judging on how there wasn't any blood anywhere else but down there."

"So it's possible that Matthew and Talia never met up?" Jeremy asked.

"Unless Talia stabbed Matthew and someone else showed up on the top floor." Mindy suggested. "Saw the knife, and they fought…"

"No, I think a much better outcome, was that Matthew met someone on the bottom floor, and they stabbed him. Then, while leaving the place, they ran into Talia, and out of fear of being discovered, acted quickly." Rial said.

Jared thought for a bit. "So Talia was just at the wrong place, at the wrong time…"

"Seems like it." Rial said. "But, I think this series of event makes sense because of the knife. The knife was found next to Talia's body, and no where near Matthew. It's most likely the killer wanted to return the knife, but ran into her."

"But, they could have still brought it back after, right?" Nila asked.

Rial shook his head. "I think they didn't bring it back for a reason. Dealing with Talia probably took longer than they thought, and they couldn't risk being gone for too long, and they had other stuff to do."

Other stuff to do? "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, the way they set up Talia must have taken some time, as it wasn't planned." He continued.

"That's fair… but they still could have left after that…" I said.

Rial remained silent.

Unless...

"Are you saying they never left." I asked.

"Yes." He said. "I think the killer never left the building. So when you and Jared entered the building, they were still there."

"But, where could they have been hiding? And we saw everyone enter the building right after." Jared said.

"Oh!" Veronica blurted out. She took out the map again. "Actually, there's an attic, and the attic has a window that would drop someone off right at the entrance."

"Hiding in the attic…" Denise crossed her arms.

"There was a ladder leading up there." Jeremy said. "I saw it the first time I went to the haunted house. Didn't seem important at the time. Although… it was open when we got there today."

"So, at least we know the killer went up there. To hide and then pretend like they had just joined up." Denise said. "Where does that get us?"

"Actually, before that…" I started off. "I think they did something else before they went up to the attic."

"Right… they left the building as the cameras went out to lure Jared and I." I said.

The officer nodded. "Yes, and when we arrived at the scene, we thought that person was Matthew, because it made the most sense. We barely saw the person, except a silhouette. The camera is rather far off, and the lighting in the area isn't that great."

"So, we actually saw the killer." I continued. "But there was no way of knowing that at the time."

"Next…" Rial started. "We should continue on with the fake Matthew. It wasn't Matthew, or the killer pretending to be Matthew, as he was there while everyone else was. So it was clearly something else, I just don't know what yet…"

"Yeah, but it's not like the killer could have just built something like that!" Ashton said. "If that was just something to look like Matthew, it did a damn well good job."

Something to look like Matthew… I… Remember seeing something…

Wait, that's it! "Denise, you remember when we explored Matthew's Ultimate Attraction."

"Yeah, how could I forgot such disappointment?" She asked.

I shook my head. "That's not what I meant. I meant, don't you remember seeing a wooden mannequin of sorts?"

She thought for a bit before a smile crept up on her face. "You know what, yeah, I do remember that."

"Well…" I trailed off. "What if that was what was used?"

Jeremy crossed his arms. "I don't know about that…"

"I know it seems kinda out there." I continued. "But it's all we got. There were even some strings attached to the limbs."

"Like a puppet." Rial commented.

"I got it!" Ashton shouted.

"You got it?" Nila asked. "About the puppet?"

He looked at her. "What? No. I'm still on the knife."

"And thus, the racer falls to last place!" Mason said. "You should have really been paying attention to where you are going."

"Shut up!" Ashton said. "The killer was bringing back the knife because they were afraid someone might check where it was missing."

"But no one did, in the end." Jeremy crossed his arms. "Oh well!"

"Well, there were only three places they could have even gotten a knife." The racer continued.

"Talia's UA, Rial's UA, and the cafeteria." I answered.

"My UA wasn't missing anything from when I checked it this morning." Rial said. "And, I only gave the code to one other person."

"You gave the code to someone else?" Mindy asked. "You didn't even give it to me…"

The sniper crossed his arms. "You'd probably just steal something. The person who I gave it to is free to tell the rest about it." There was some silence. "Guess not."

"And then Talia always carried around the key to hers." Denise said.

"So whoever was part of the clean up crew, had to have picked up a knife from the cafeteria!" Ashton said.

"Clean up crew?" I asked.

"The people who stayed behind to clean up the kitchen and everything." Mason said. "And cry tears over our wasted food."

"You ate half of it." Miranda pitched in.

"Wasted!" He cried out. "OK, I'm better now."

"The cleaning crew was Denise, Jeremy, Mason, Miranda, Rial, Veronica, and I." Ashton said.

"So…" Rial trailed off. "I guess we have our suspect list."

"We could have figured this out much sooner." Mason said.

Jeremy crossed his arms. "But a while ago, we were certain Talia brought the knife."

Fair… "So we have our potential list of suspects, now what?"

"Well, where would the puppet have fallen?" Jared asked.

Veronica, once again, pulling out her map. "The puppet would have fallen to the bottom floor, just like Gregory saw."

"Alright, but that doesn't explain how the puppet would have been moving on it's own. When we arrived, the killer could have easily operated it from the attic." Jared said. "But there was nothing for that down there."

Nothing down there for that…? Wait. There might have been something to make it easier!

"There were big enough cracks in the floor on 4B that you could potentially move string around, as long as you followed a set path." I said. "And, if you followed it, I bet you would end up where Matthew's body was."

"So, someone from the second floor?" Jared asked.

"Once again, it comes down to whoever had the slim on their shoes." Jeremy said. "But, before that, something else still bugs me. What about the voice?" He asked.

The voice…? Right, we heard Matthew speak. How… how did we hear him speak…? Or more so, who could have replicated the voice?

…!

"Mason?" I asked.  
"Yeah? I'm Mason." He replied.

"You could do that." I said.

He tilted his head. "Do what?"

"You've done it before, imitating someone." I said.

"I've never done that." He said.

Going to try and deny it? "Yes, you have. Back when the second area opened up, the day after, you walked into the cafeteria, using Jared's voice."

"He did what?" Jared asked.

"Mason already showed us." I said. "It was only for a gag, but it was enough for us to know you could."

Denise nodded. "The little shit. Then he went to the girls locker room."

"Did not!" He said.

"Di-"

"Let's move on." Jeremy said, saving everyone.

Jared took a deep sigh. "Mason, a lot of evidence is piling up against you. You were part of the cleaning crew, as well as on the floor that had the weird floor."

Mason smile with his hands behind his head. "So it would seem. Too bad I'm not the killer!"

"It can only be you." Rial said.

"Don't be hasty." The comedian said. "Especially you, Rial."

He simply glanced the other way.

"You say I did?" Mason asked. "Well, it's possible." His demeanor changed. "But, just accusing me won't be enough!"

"We've got all we need." Denise said.

"Nuh-uh!" Mason smirked to himself. "You ain't got nothing yet!"

Jeremy crossed his arms. "But, we do."

The comedian went silent for a few seconds. "Well, you may have something, but would you really call a puzzle that's missing a few pieces to be complete?"

"Well, no." Ashton started to say. "You gotta finish that puzz-"

"Not the point." Jared said. "It's plain you killed them both!"

"It's obvious, huh…?" Mason asked. "That's if the whole puppet thing is even true. Tell me, did you ever find said puppet?"

"Well… no-" I started to say.

"So how could you even be sure a puppet was even involved then? Where's your damn proof now?" He had gotten very aggressive now.

"Mason!" Jared yelled out. "Calm down!"

"No! You tell me where the hell the damn puppet is!" Mason yelled out.

Where the puppet is? That's right, we never found a puppet, so we can't prove that there even was one.

Unless…

"There would be no way to prove a puppet was used if we couldn't find it. So, you took the precaution of getting rid of it the only way that was possible." I started. "It's still in the haunted house, and it lies at the bottom of the bottomless pit."

"That sound contradictory." Jeremy said.

Rial nodded. "It would be an easy way to dispose of something so large, and leaving no proof that it was ever there."

Mason remained silent for a few seconds. "..."

"Are you going to say anything in your defense?" Jared asked.

Even more silence, before he finally spoke up. "Are you going to say anything in your defense?" He repeated in Jared's voice. "No? Alright." He continued in the same voice. "I'm a mysterious person." Now it was Matthew's voice. There was a long silence. "That's all I can do." It was his normal voice. "It takes a while to master a voice… so…"

"So you admit it?" I asked.

He just smirked. "Of course I do! You almost had it completely right! Just one thing you missed." He shrugged. "Tell me in your words everything you pieced together!"

"Put everything together…" I repeated. Yeah… I'll do that.

.

"Act 1: The killer had made plans to meet up with Matthew, or, at least somehow got them to the Haunted House, where they would plan their murder. To set up, they needed the puppet from Matthew's UA, as well as a costume for it. But since it was his place, it would be easy to find some. Next, a knife, which they obtained from the cafeteria, while everyone else was doing some cleanup.

.

Act 2: Then, it came the actual day of the murder. The murderer woke up early to set up a few things before Matthew showed up. Most likely the puppet, but not the timer. As they couldn't know how long that would take. Once they finally met up. The killer probably stabbed him right away, not wanting a struggle. As their didn't seem to be one. With that, they left.

.

Act 3: Then, they made their way upstairs. They didn't care much for the slim floor since it wouldn't just affect them later. On 1B, they set up a timer that would in turn shut off all cameras of that area, except for one. They one they needed to lure Jared and I to them. With that, they got ready to leave with the knife. Unfortunately… They didn't expect what happened next.

.

Act 4: Matthew wasn't only supposed to meet up with the killer. They also had a meeting with Talia. Which, just so happened to be around the time that the killer killed Matthew. Probably out of fear of being found out, lashed out at her, killing her instantly. The killer of course had no plan for this.

.

Act 5: They spent some more time than they actually needed to set up the body. We never actually figured out why the body was placed like that. Maybe to try and keep us here to try and solve the mystery. Either way, with too much time spent there, they couldn't return the knife. So they left it there.

.

Act 6: And when the timer was almost up, they positioned themselves so that when they cameras would turn off, Jared would look over at the one still on. Of course, we saw a figure walking into the house. We didn't know who, and upon arriving, we thought that it was Matthew. By then, the killer was already in the attic, and using the puppet.

,

Act 7: Once everyone started to arrive, they made sure to slip into the group without raising suspicion by jumping out the window of the attic. By this time, the puppet was already leaned up against the switch. All the killer had to do was stand still in one area and wait for gravity to push the puppet down enough to activate the trap door.

.

Act 8: With everyone scattered and confused, the killer had everything set so they could grab the strings that had fallen, and lead the puppet down a path. Hoping that at least one person would see it and confuse it for the real deal. I followed all the way till I found Matthew, who was already dead. Not just that, but the killer had an alibi; they joined up with Miranda.

.

Act 9: This all would have worked out for the killer, had Rial not felt something was up and went down to investigate. There, he found Matthew still alive. However, he was unable to actually do anything, and he died of blood loss shortly after. Finding it best to find the others, he left. But soon, the body discovery announcement. The killer joined up with everyone else like they had no idea what happened.

.

And this crime, could only have been committed by you, Mason Scherz, the Ultimate Comedian, or should I say, Ultimate Puppeteer!"

.

The room was silent as Mason looked at me. "... Yup, that's about it! You guys are really good at this."

"You do not seem worried, despite being caught." Nila said.

He shrugged. "I knew it was going to be like this." He glanced away. "But I had to at least make some sort of effort."

"So, you were the one who went snooping around." Rial asked.

"Course! I love doing that." Mason said gleefully. "But we'll talk about that later. First, a few things you missed."

"Do we re-" Jared started to ask.

"I did meet up with Matthew, but he already knew my intent as soon as we met up." Mason started off. "Honestly, he didn't even try to run…"

.

"_So, you were the one sneaking around?" Matthew had his arms crossed. "That makes sense."_

"_W-what?" Mason said. "What do you mean?"_

_He simply shrugged. "It's obvious you came to kill me." He glanced up. "So, what will you do? Did you find anything of interest?"_

_Mason remained silent for a few seconds. "I found a few things, all of them interesting. But I don't know what they mean yet. So I can't be threatened and simply die before I can know the truth."_

"_You think this will solve anything?" Matthew asked._

"_No, I don't. But…" A little smirk appeared on his face. "It will give me the center stage for a bit."_

_Matthew looked at the ground. "Then do what you must…"_

.

"He just let it happen…" Mason crossed his arms. "Anyways! The other thing I wanted to talk about is Talia! And why her body was like that!"

"Was it to hide a clue?" Jared asked, seemingly angry.

He shook his head. "Actually, it was just symbolism. We were thirteen people, and she was the first one to get up at dinner last night. Gregory should know what that means."

Did he… "You didn't… the last…" I mumbled.

"I didn't exactly have a cross, but it should have worked." Mason said.

"Oh! I get it!" Jeremy said. "That's pretty cool."

"No it's not." Miranda told him quickly.

Mason put his hands behind his head. "Anyways… this is where the real fun begins. Hey, Monokuma, I hope you don't mind me telling everyone what I found?"

"Absolutely not!" The bear stood up. "Unless you want me to go ahead and execute you right now."

"Come at me!" Mason yelled out. "So first off-"

Monokuma lunged at him, but didn't quite make it there. It's like his body just stopped functioning mid air.

"Ah sweet! It works!" The comedian was gleeful. He was tossing something in his hand. "Hey! Rial! Catch!" He tossed it to him. "Use it wisely!"

The sniper looked down at it before pocketing it in his shirt.

"So, honestly, there wasn't actually much. A few cool things, but I did find a few articles, that apparently Monokuma doesn't want to talk about. But, there's no telling which one was actually useful. They were all pretty different from each other."

"Hold on!" Jared said. "How can you still act like everything is OK? After killing two people."

Mason simply laughed a little before his smile faded into a frown. "You think I'm alright about this? Trying to keep up an act that I'm always happy? Nothing here is OK, but for my own emotional state, I had to joke about literally everything in front of me. Not like any of the things I joked about, I meant. Now would you shut up will I give you crucial information?" He seemed angry now. But, there was still a lot of sadness behind those words. Was he just acting like that the whole time… Was all that true?

Jared looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright. What's this about articles?"

"Well, the articles were amongst some of the things I found. There three that interested me. So whoever wanted to hide them, it obviously mattered to them." He took a deep breath. "It's also possible that they are worthless and simply meant to lead us on. The first one was about some sort of school shooting that happened, I think, a few cities over. I read into it, but no names actually appeared, and the name of the school was blocked out. The next one was about a rather famous man adopting three girls. So this one is useless!" He laughed a little. "The last one, talks about a crime duo known as Flame-X."

"Flame-X?" Denise asked. "Why does that sound familiar?"

Mindy looked up. "They were in the news a lot, before one day they just vanished."

"What about them?" I asked.

Mason shrugged. "Not much, a lot of it was unimportant information. But apparently they died from getting shot several times, as well as burn damage from the building they set on fire. Buuut…" He trailed off. "They were thieves…" He smirked, looking at Mindy.

She just seemed annoyed at the accusation.

"In the long run, that doesn't help us out." Rial crossed.

"That's not all I have. This one didn't come from the room, rather, it came after I went there. I was approached by someone. I don't know who exactly. But…" He trailed off. "I'm sure it was the traitor." He laughed. "Seems they were too much of a coward to actually kill me themselves. Or should I say… herself!

"You heard the traitor speak?" Ashton yelled out. "Who was it?"

Mason crossed his arms. "It was the voice of a girl, but their voice was still muffled. So I couldn't quite make out who they were. But, they were the one who told me to get Matthew. So, I decided to play along with them for a bit."

"But… that would mean a girl here doesn't belong…" Jared said. "But we have more guys."

"Or do we?" Mason asked.'

"Do we?" Jeremy asked.

He couldn't help but laugh. "Let me drop a real bomb for you."

"How big of one?" Rial asked.

He laughed. "Pretty big. I think one of the guys is secretly a girl."

This was met by silence.

"What?" I asked.

"That's stupid." Rial crossed his arms.

"Is it?" Mason smirked. "I knew none of you would believe me, so why don't I just prove it?" Mason said as he made his way towards them. And, with one swift motion of their arm, removed their scarf.

It was Rial's scarf. Under it, he appeared to wear a mask like thing on his mouth. Despite that, she didn't seem to be injured there.

…

…

…

She?

She had long hair that reached her lower back. It was tied into a ponytail. No one ever saw it because of her scarf.

Rial froze for a second before taking out her weapon and aiming it at Mason. "What the hell?" She said.

He couldn't help but smile. "Well, if I'm going to die, might as well reveal my whole hand."

Everyone, for the most part, was stunned. That's not the type of twist we had been expecting to see here.

Rial glared at Mason for a few more seconds, before ultimately deciding this wasn't worth it, putting away her rifle. She took off the small mouth cover and spoke. "So what?" Yeah. I'm a girl. Big deal." She now sounded like a girl, while keeping the accent she had.

"Why did you keep that fact hidden from us?" Denise crossed her arms, seemingly annoyed by this revelation.

Mason put his hands behind his head, with a smirk. "You're just annoyed because it's going to take more time before I get executed."

She was taken aback by that. "That's not it at all."

He tilted his head slightly. "But whatever, the reason I decided to reveal that was because now, we know for a fact that a girl doesn't belong."

"It's Rial." Jeremy smiled.

She glared daggers at him. "I will slit your throat."

"Try me."

Rial took a deep sigh, like she was thinking. "It also reveals we are missing memories for over a year."

"Really?" Ashton asked, amazed. "How can you tell?"

She went silent for a few seconds before speaking up. "Well, what if I said my last memory before waking up in this damn amusement park, was as me as a guy."

This simply brought on more silence. I was the first to speak up. "Wait, you used to be a guy?"

"Moving on." She didn't want to talk about it. "That's a lot of time to pass for me to come to a decision, and have the process be completed. It doesn't just take a few months. Sometimes, changing like this can take a year."

Mason couldn't help but laugh. "I knew she had to be hiding it for some reason, so I decided if I was caught, which, of course I would be, I would reveal all I knew."

Rial thought deeply. "This means our memory was taken away from us way before we actually attended Hope's Peak." She looked up at everyone else. "Because, for me to classify as a girl, the surgery would have already needed to start." She looked back at the ground. "But that could just be something for me."

Denise thought deeply. "Why would they need to remove our memories that far back?"

"Because, something might have happened that they don't want us to know about."

"Like what?" Jarred asked.

She glared at him. "If I knew, I would say it."

Soon, Monokuma got up again. Whatever Mason did to him finally wore off. "What was that?" He yelled out, angrily.

The comedian couldn't help but laugh. "That was to buy me extra time." He had a grin on his face. "I'm ready for whatever you throw at me now."

"Because you pissed me off, it's time to make it extra brutal!" He laughed.

Mason laughed at that too. "I wouldn't have it any other way." He looked at everyone else. "Don't make the same stupid mistake I did."

"I've prepared a very special punishment for Mason Scherz, the Ultimate Comedian!"

"Hopefully, everything I told you helps out in the long run." He put his hands behind his head.

"Let's give it everything we've got!" The bear continued.

Mason let out a small sigh. He was prepared for this fate, as if any fight he had left in him had been used talking to us.

"IT'S... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"

**Mason Scherz has been found guilty! Time for punishment.**

.

Mason was standing on a stage looking at an audience of Monokumas. This seemed like a stage at a bar where a comedian would just perform. He reached out for the microphone but his hand stopped before. He glanced at his arm, and faint strings could be seen. He wasn't in control. He let out a small sigh before his hand forcibly grabbed the microphone, out of his control. He tried to speak, but no sounds came out. He's lost his voice. Then, came the booing from the audience as things were being thrown at him. He tried to move out of the way of a tomato, but the strings pulled him in the other directions, almost snapping his arm off. He was hit in the face by a few object, but then they ran out of food. However, that wasn't enough to stop them as they started utensils like forks and knives. He once again tried to avoid it, but the string wrapped around his arm, pulling him away in an unnatural way. Then, a snapping could be heard as his arm broke. Then, a knife lodged itself in his left shoulder. Now, they had moved to throwing stones at him. They left bruised and marks all over him as some even got his face. He turned to run away, but the strings wrapped around his neck and pulled him back with force. And then, he was pulled up into the air as his body went lifeless, just like a puppet.

.

Once again, we remained silent as we just watched another classmate die. We were now down to ten people, when we had started with seventeen.

Rial started to walk away. "I'm going to my room." Seems she didn't want to be near us right now. Probably because what we just found out.

Soon enough, the rest of us left too.

.

.

.

"..." Someone stood in darkness, looking away.

Another silhouette could be seen. This one obviously belonged to Monokuma. "I thought I said to kill him personally!"

"Yes… well…" The person started to say.

The bear seemed angry. "No excuses! Although, I guess in the end, he died anyways. But still! What's wrong with you? Not capable of killing?"

There was some silence. "I just…"

The bear waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever… Just go! Make sure you don't piss me off again!"


	8. Chapter 4: Condemned to Death-Daily Life

The wind was nice… a cool spring breeze blew through the field. I was running around. I couldn't have been more than 8 at this point. My parents were nearby, preparing some food. And, I could see my brother in the distance. Right, my brother. He was about 8 years older than me.

"Gregory, go get your brother, the food should be ready now." My mother said to me.

I smiled brightly. "Will do." I quickly ran down the field to go get him.

He was crouched down, looking at something.

When I got there, I saw what he was looking at. There was an injured bird on the ground.

"Ah!" I remarked, worried. "Shouldn't we help it."

My brother shook his head. A small smile on his face. "Something here probably injured it to eat it, and I accidentally must have scared it off."

"But…" I frowned. "It's really hurt."

"We wouldn't be able to help it anyways." He looked over at me. "Why did you come here anyways?"

I smiled again. "Oh, mom said the food is ready." I looked back at the bird, thoughtful. It didn't look like an animal had done this. "Let's go!" I tried not to pay much attention. I started to leave, but stopped when I realized he hadn't been following me. I looked back at it.

The sky turned a dark shade of grey as when he turned around, it looked like the devil had possessed him.

Then… I woke up…

.

I was breathing heavily, having had the dream again. "Why now… all of a sudden?" I got out of bed. I walked over to my window, looking outside. It was still pretty early in the morning, probably before the announcement. "He doesn't matter anymore…" I mumbled to myself. Not sure why I said that out loud, but there was no one else here. With a deep sigh, I decided to head outside.

I walked around for a bit. I know the cafeteria wouldn't be opened, since I've tried going there before, but sometimes, after a nightmare like that, a good walk really helps out a lot.

Without even knowing where I was heading, I ended up in the horror section again, standing at the cemetery. Why did I come here? I looked around and noticed that three new graves had been added. "That was cruel…" I mumbled to myself. I looked around, searching for two graves. Was I still asleep? Why was I looking for those two? They wouldn't be in a place like this…

"Gregory?" A voice said from behind me.

I turned around to see who spoke to see that it was Nila that was standing there.

She tilted her head slightly. "What are you doing up so early?"

"Oh…" I paused for a bit. "I had a bad dream. What about you?"

"My whole life I have been waking up at five or six, so, I do not normally wait till the morning announcements."

I thought for a bit. That was true. The first case, she was one of the first people to discover the body, saying she was up before seven. "So you get up this early all the time?"

"Habits are hard to change." She looked at the graves. "You came here for those?"

I looked back at the graves. "Yeah, I did. But it's more like my body acted without me realizing."

Nila looked around the graves. "I see Monokuma added three new ones." She frowned.

I thought for a bit. "Why did you come to the horror section?"

Nila thought for a few seconds. "I do not know, maybe I just like the atmosphere here more than the others." She glanced away.

I slowly nodded. "That's fair…"

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

The monitor nearby turned on to show us Monokuma. But there was no point in paying this one any attention. As it was just the morning announcement.

"We should probably head to the cafeteria now." Nila said with a slight tilt of the head.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting hungry."

The two of us headed towards the cafeteria.

.

After a small walk, we entered the cafeteria, and everyone was already there.

It was mostly silence. Most of energetic people like Jerry and Mason weren't around anymore, so no one really spoke up. I walked over to Veronica and sat down next to her. "The mood is kinda dead, right now." I frowned.

She took a bit of her food. "Well, after losing three people, yeah…"

None of us would admit it, but had Mason been here, at least we'd have been talking a lot more than now. His absence really took a hit on the group.

Jeremy stood up. He didn't seem to say anything for a few seconds. "Well, this isn't any time to be worrying."

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked.

"I mean, a new area should have opened up by now." He said. "So, we should go check it out."

Right, a new area. After a horror theme, what could possibly be next?

Jared stood up. "He's right, we should go check out the next area. Who knows what we could find?"

Probably nothing, like usual.

"Well, let's get going." Veronica said, starting to leave.

The remaining of us all went around to one of the gates we previously knew about. There were only two left that hadn't been opened. And, of course, with a 50/50 chance, we found it first try. We stood there, for a bit.

"Aren't we going to head in?" Denise asked, annoyed.

Jeremy thought for a moment. "Well, it's just the atmosphere feels so weird from there."

"Is that… carnival music…?" Miranda asked.

"Well, no time like the present." Mindy said as she stepped into the gates.

The others followed suit, and after a bit, I headed in too.

.

Yeah, this was definitely a carnival themed area. Which was a change in scenery compared to the horror themed one, while still having a creepy vibe to it. I guess that's what happens when it's pretty much empty.

I was walking around, before suddenly stopping in front of a building. I looked up at a sign, and it seemed to be a comedy club of sorts. I let out a sigh. This had to be Mason's Ultimate Attraction. I walked over to the door, opening them before walking in.

.

The room looked exactly how you'd think a comedy club would look. There were tables covering most of the room, and, at the end, a stage. The interesting thing was what was on the walls. Several different types of puppets were lined up on the walls. Interesting.

"This place is interesting." A voice came from behind me.

I almost jumped upon hearing it. I hadn't heard anyone walk behind me. I turned around and saw that it was only Veronica.

She couldn't help but giggle a little. "Did I scare you?"

"A little." I frowned.

"Anyways…" She trailed off, looking around. "Seems like we would have found out about the puppets anyways, had he lived with us."

I took another look at the puppets. There were even a few for ventriloquist acts. "Yeah, it seems that way."

"I already took a look around." She started to say, "But besides that, there didn't seem to be anything else of interest."

I just stood there. Each room we found that belonged to someone who wasn't with us anymore, reminded me that the group was shrinking and shrinking. How many will be left when this all ends?

"Gregory?" Veronica asked.

I snapped out of it. "Sorry, just thinking."

She nodded. "Well, I'm going to go explore elsewhere." And with that, she left. I kept glancing around the room. Part of me imagines Mason making us sit through one of his shows, and honestly, that doesn't sound that bad right now…

After a bit, I left.

The next place I happened upon seem to be game area of the carnival. Well, with it being so empty… Wait, not empty. Jeremy was there, and he was holding…?

"Man, I thought these games would be rigged." He said, holding a stuffed bear.

"Are you saying you actually played the game for the bear?" I asked.

He nodded. "The games were fun, but too easy."

"I don't think you needed to play the game to take a prize."

He was silent for a few seconds. "But it wouldn't feel the same."

"Whatever floats your boat." I said. "Why did you want a giant stuffed bear anyways?"

He was silent again for a bit. "Good question. I'll probably just give it to someone."

"LIke who?" I asked.

He was silent for a third time. "I'll probably just leave it in a room and let someone pick it up."

"You… do that, I guess." I didn't really know what to say to that. I looked around at all the carnival games. Each was different from the last. But, even so, they all pretty much looked the same at a glance. I did notice that one was missing it's big prize, and I'm willing to guess that would be what Jeremy is holding.

"Anyways, I better go place this somewhere." Jeremy said as he left.

And with that, I kept walking.

.

I could hear some music being played. But it didn't seem to be coming from the speakers that were around the area. It sounded like someone was actually playing it nearby. And then I realized it was probably Miranda because it sounded like a violin. And sure enough, she was hanging around the carousel.

She had her eyes closed when she played.

The music she played was kidding unsettling, but, I guess she was good at making that kind of music. It would explain why her UA was in the horror land. I walked over to her. "Hey Miranda."

She stopped playing and opened her eyes. She looked over at me, smiling. "Oh, hey. Was I playing too loudly?"

I shook my head. "Not at all, it was just a little unsettling. But then again, most carnival music can be like that."

She giggled slightly. "I've actually been told that most of my music is unsettling. Either that or sad." She paused for a second. "I guess it's easier to convey those emotions when I'm the only instrument playing. And, I don't know, it being unsettling always interested me."

"Why's… that?" I asked.

Miranda shook her head. "I guess it's just easier to play." She looked over at the carousel. "Anyways. I really like the design of the horses on these."

I glanced at what she was looking at and nodded. "Yeah, they are designed neatly."

"Despite this being an amusement park, I haven't really tried any of the rides." She frowned. "Not like this is the time for that anyways. We can ride as many rides we want after we get out of here."

"Well, it doesn't mean we can't try and make time pass." I said, trying to lighten the mood.

Miranda thought for a bit before going back to playing her instrument. "I think I'll stick to playing this…"

I couldn't tell her what to do with her time, so, I left her alone to her devices.

.

I kept walking, until I walked by an area that seemed to have bumper cars. Standing next to it, was Jared. He seemed to be looking at something.

I walked over to him. "Did these catch your eyes."

He kept staring off. "Not really, I don't have interest in things like these."

"Then… Why are you staring off at them." I asked.

The officer was silent for a few seconds. "Because…"

Then Ashton slowly approached the edge on a bumper cart.

The three of us remained calm. Finally, the silence was broken by Jared. "Ashton, you're an idiot."

"Hey! I don't have my Ultimate Attraction yet! This is a close as I'll get." He defended himself.

"It…" I started to say. "Seems rather small for you."

The racer was silent for a few seconds. "Not really. Sure, it's a bit uncomfortable, but that's it."

Jared shook his head. "You're still an idiot. Be serious for once!"

"I'm always serious!" He said, looking completely unserious in the small bumper cart. "Alright, maybe it does look a little stupid." He stood up. "But there's nothing much to do in this area."

From what I've seen, I could at least name a few areas that could at least be somewhat entertaining.

"Jared!" Ashton called out. "Join me in bumper cars."

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Come on man."

"It's still no."

Ashton stopped for a few seconds. "There's a police themed one."

There was some silence and as one would guess…

They were now both playing bumper cars. "I'm… going to go now…" I said as slowly walked away. At least some people were having fun.

.

The next area I stopped at had a very clown like atmosphere. I looked at the building for a bit before I eventually going in. It kept that theme inside. But for some reason, it felt more than just a clown.

"Like this?" A voice asked from not far away.

"N-not with those!" Another voice said.

When I turned the corner, I was greeted with the sight of Nila tossing her knives in the air and trying to catch them. What was she doing!?

She failed to catch one and it fell towards her foot, but simply klinkled off the shoe, instead of injuring her.

She caught the two other knives before stopping. She tilted her head slightly. "I am not very good at this."

Mindy had a similar expression to me, as we almost watched her injure her foot.

Nila looked over at me before a bright smile appeared on her face. "Hello Gregory!"

"Why were you trying to juggle?" I asked.

"This is Jerry's Ultimate Attraction." Mindy replied. "She tried juggling like him." She looked down at the knife on the ground. "I just wished she'd have picked something less dangerous."

The soldier knelt down, picking up the knife. "It was fine. I would not have hurt myself."

"You were only fine because your shoes are steel toes." Mindy said.

I looked around a bit. This did seem to be Jerry's UA. His sense of style was definitely around this room. A bunch of different items lay around the room. Probably stuff he has already juggled. I looked over at Nila. "Wouldn't any of the other things be better to juggle?"

She thought for a bit before tilting her head. "But what is the fun in that? There needs to be danger."

No, there doesn't. There wasn't anything else that interested me in the building. And with that, I left this building.

.

There weren't that many buildings I had yet to visit. I think only two remained. One of them seemed rather large, so I figured I'd leave that one for last. Walking into this new building. It had a rather nice aesthetic. Clothes were all along the wall. They all seemed to be of different origins. I had a pretty good idea who's attraction this was.

And then, just as I thought, I saw her standing there. Denise was twirling an umbrella in her hands, examining it.

"Anything interesting about it?" I asked.

She remained silent for a few more seconds. "Well, apparently there is something special about it." She placed it down on the table. "But it looks like a simple umbrella to me."

I looked over at it.

"I mean, it goes with your outfit…" I had no idea what I was talking about. "Are you the only one here?"

Denise shook her head. "Actually, Rial is looking around. Said he… Said she wanted to see what was here."

"There was nothing that interested me." She said, joining our conversations. "Nothing really my style. There were a few nice scarves, but not good enough to replace my current one."

"Which reminds me. When the suggestion came up to use your scarf to stop the bleeding, you said you couldn't." I started to say. "Why was that?"

Rial thought for a few seconds. "Well, there was the chance my scarf would come undone, revealing I was a girl. And also I didn't want to ruin it. Not like stopping the blood would have done the situation any good. He had already lost too much blood. I would have saved him if only for a few seconds." She crossed her arms, looking away.

"That's… fair…" Was all I could say. "Is the scarf special to you?"

She was silent again, before clutching on the scarf. She hid the lower part of her face in it. "It was made for someone close to me. It contains the logo of the middle school I went to. The first, and last gift I ever received from him."

She seemed… almost sad. "Is everythin-"

"Everything is fine." Rial said. "Why do you ask?"

"Love interest, perhaps?" Denise chipped in.

This made Rial glare. "Hardly, he is ten years older than I am, or, was." She seemed annoyed at the suggestion, so it probably wasn't anything like romantic interesting.

Denise twirled the umbrella in her hand. Seems she picked it up again. She opened it, leaning part of it on her shoulder. "Maybe this does suit me." Way to change the subject.

I soon left because I had one more place to explore; The rather large building that resided at the center of this new area…

.

After a bit of walking, I eventually reached it. Up close, it was much larger. And in a rather weird shape. Like a star, but… with way more points. I let out a sigh and entered the building. And was greeted with…

Mirrors.

So many mirrors.

Of course a place like this would have a mirror maze. The further I walked in, the more confused I was. I didn't even remember which way I came from.

"Lost, are we?" A voice said.

It almost made me jump. I turned around, and Veronica was standing behind me. "You scared me."

"I'm actually right here." She said, slightly off to the left. I turned my gaze towards her. She clapped her hands together. "There we go!"

"I don't like this place already." I mumbled.

She giggled. "Honestly, this place is fun. I love mazes. Although…" She trailed off. "Maybe not in our situation…" Right… killing game and all. "There was something interesting about this place."

I waited for her to continue, but it didn't seem like she would. "And that is?"

"Oh, that's not important." Veronica said.

Way to leave me hanging…

She thought for a moment before turning around. "We should probably go meet up with the others, given that we've probably explored everywhere."

I nodded. "Yeah, we should go do that." I paused. "Do you know how to get out?"

She started to walk away. "Probably."

Reassuring. I followed her anyways, despite my doubts.

After a while, we eventually made it out.

"See, I told you I knew the way." Veronica said with a smile.

"It took twice as long to get out than it did for me to get in there." I countered.

Someone walked up to us, looking dejected. It was Jeremy.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He looked up at us. "I thought, since this was a carnival, there would be some carnival food around. But I have yet to find a single stall. It sucks, because we could have gotten all that overpriced garbage for free."

"Didn't you play a game to get a prize instead of just taking it off the rack?" I asked.

"What's the fun in that?" Veronica pouted.

"Stealing, of course." Mindy said walking up to us. Nila was behind her, still trying to juggle. I hope one of her knives didn't hit anyone else.

Shortly, everyone joined up with us in front of the mirror maze.

"Should we explore this building together?" Jared asked.

"Let's not." Veronica and I said at the same time.

"Huh?" The officer said, out of pure shock of our synchronization- It was probably because we said no. "Why not?"

"Unless you all want to get lost." I chuckled a little.

"I'd prefer not to get lost." Rial said, crossing her arms.

"Well," Jeremy started. "It would seem that we explored everywhere of value in this area. Should we head back?"

It wasn't too late, but honestly, I didn't live the vibe of this place one bit...

"Yes, I think we should head back." Nila smiled sweetly. She let out a small yawn. "I have been up for several hours now.

Rial shook her head. "I didn't-" Then she cut herself off. "Don't wake up so early."

"Oh, but it is so fun waking up early." She beamed.

She shook her head, heading off.

"We should probably stop at the cafeteria. It's way past noon." Jeremy said as he started to follow Rial.

Soon, the rest of us followed suit.

And then… we arrived at the gate.

We stopped because Rial had stopped. We hadn't noticed…

"What…" She said, annoyed.

We all glanced at the gate, finally realizing just what was about to happen.

The gate was closed. But, not just that, it seemed to be locked tightly, more so than we ever could have imagined a gate would be.

"Huh…" Jeremy crossed his arms. "This isn't good."

"No shit." Jared said.

"Puhuhuhu!" The oh so familiar voice rang out.

Suddenly.

Bear.

"It's so good to see all of you again!" Monokuma said, standing on top of the gate.

"Can you just leave?" Jeremy asked. "We were in the middle of realizing we were trapped here."

"No!" The bear yelled out. "This is my moment to shine! It's time for MONOKUMA!" This was received with silence. "This is no way to treat the mascot." He said, dejected.

"Just get on with it." Jared yelled out.

"Puhuhuhuhu!" He laughed again. "For the foreseeable future, you will all be locked in this fun haven!"

"That doesn't seem too bad." Miranda said.

Jeremy, didn't seem like he was doing too good. "No… you don't mean…"

Monokuma laughed again. "Yes. I mean exactly what you think I mean!"

And then I remembered…

.

_Someone walked up to us, looking dejected. It was Jeremy._

"_What's wrong?" I asked._

_He looked up at us. "I thought, since this was a carnival, there would be some carnival food around. But I have yet to find a single stall. It sucks, because we could have gotten all that overpriced garbage for free."_

.

"No… food…" I mumbled.

"W-what?" Miranda said quickly.

"Exaaaactly!" Monokuma snickered. "This zone contains not one trace of food. Unless…" He trailed off. "You are into cannibalism!"

"Ashton is." Jeremy said.

"Hey! Yo! What the fuck!?" Was how he reacted.

Rial crossed her arms, gripping onto her scarf. "And let me guess, you won't let us out until someone is killed?"

"Precisely!" Monokuma. "Glad to see you are all getting with the times."

"That's absurd!" Miranda said.

The bear shook his head. "The further we get into this killing game, the less likely people are to kill. Grasping onto bonds they created! So of course, to counter that! I've brought upon you a motive you can't possibly ignore!"

"You intend to starve us?!" Denise yelled.

He simply shrugged. "I'm not required to feed you. All the food I was giving was because I was feeling nice. Now, it's over! If no one does something soon, you will ALL starve!"

And I thought a motive has bad as the second one would never happen. This one seemed worse in every way…

"W-what do we do now?" Miranda asked.

Jared looked at the ground, pondering. "I don't know. I didn't think he'd ever do something like this."

"If we just ignore it, someone's going to bite the dust eventually. Whether from starvation, or murder, is yet to be seen." Denise added.

"We need to find a way out of this area." Jared said.

Jeremy shook his head. "Even if there was a way, what's stopping him from no longer providing us food on the other side." That was a great point.

Mindy walked over to the locks. "Anyone is free to help me out." She knelt down, taking out a lock pick. But no one stepped up.

"I do not think any of us know how." Nila said.

She shook her head. "Pathetic." Not sure how long this will take, but I'll try and pick the locks."

"But here's so many…" Veronica frowned. "There's no telling if you can get them all."

Mindy looked up at all the locks she had to do. "But it's all I can do, I won't be any help elsewhere."

Yeah… but that seems like way too many locks.

"You'll die of starvation before you even finish." Rial said.

She simply ignored that remark.

"In the meantime…" Jared trailed off. "We need to figure out what we can do. There has to be some form of food somewhere."

Jeremy shook his head. "I already checked everywhere. Unless we are lucky enough to catch a bird, then we won't have anything to eat."

"We should also start to worry about a place to stay." Veronica said. "We won't have our cottages to sleep in…"

That was a good point. "Well… there didn't seem to be any place with beds…"

"Well…" Denise trailed off, deep in thought. "Might not be the best substitute. But the clothes in my UA could be used for blankets and makeshift pillows."

"I'll go look for a place to sleep. I have an idea in mind." Jeremy crossed his arms before walking away.

Veronica started to follow him. She turned towards me. "I'll go with him."

"Help me gather clothes, Gregory." Denise said as she started to walk away. I followed her, since I had nothing better to do.

Soon, we reached her Ultimate Attraction.

"There's a lot of soft clothes in here that would make decent blankets." She said.

I felt someone walking behind us. I glanced around and noticed it was just Miranda. "You followed us too?"

She nodded. "The others went off somewhere else, and I felt like this would be the most useful."

I nodded at her before turning towards Denise, who greeted me with a pile of clothes that almost made me fall down.

"That should be about enough…" She mumbled. "Maybe a few things we can stuff to make pillows." She grabbed a bunch of more clothes and dumped them on Miranda, who, did in fact fall.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

There was silence before she spoke. "It's fine."

"We should go see if Jeremy and Veronica have found anything." Denise said as she started to walk out.

I looked down at Miranda, who seemed to just accept her new life. "I'll join up with you guys in a bit."

I let out a small laugh as I followed Denise out of the building.

.

Soon, we spotted the two near the Mirror Maze building. "Why are you hanging out here?"

Jeremy looked up at me. "Because, I think this is our best bet. There are some areas off to the side that would be perfect to sleep in. It gives us a large amount of space, while staying in the same building."

"Won't it be uncomfortable?" I asked. Not to mention confusing.

"I think it will be fine." Veronica said.

The surfer then let out a sigh. "Although, I went to check the carnival games for some other stuffed prized, but they were all gone."

"Why did you go there?" I asked.

"I thought we could use those as pillows. Well, at least better pillows than whatever Denise could make." He crossed his arms.

"..." Denise didn't seem too happy about that comment. "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that."

Miranda finally caught up to us.

"Should we wait for the others?" I asked.

Denise shook her head. "Let's just start making these pillows."

We sat down on a nearby bench. Denise took out some tools she seemed to have acquired from her lab. "I'm guessing none of you have stitched before?"

"Nope." I said.

Miranda simply shook her head.

"Not my talent." Veronica said.

"I have stitches." Jeremy said with a smile.

Denise looked at him for a few seconds. "Alright, ignoring that." She grabbed a thread and needle. "We just have to seal the clothes-"

She basically explained it for a few minutes, but none of it really stuck. The others seemed to be doing fine.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this." I said.

Denise looked up at my work, shaking her head in disappointment. "I agree."

"It can't be that bad." Miranda said before looking up, realizing how bad it was, and going back to her pillow.

"That's what I thought." I sighed.

"We only need ten of these, anyways." Veronica said. So the four of us can work on them."

I looked over at her. "I'll just watch I guess."

After a solid twenty minutes, all then pillows were done. Denise, having made at least four of them. "Perfect." She smiled.

"Let's try them out." Miranda said, putting it on the bench and laying her head on it. There was a few moments of silence. "I miss the cottage pillows."

"Stick a cork in it." Denise replied. "This is all we got."

She sat up. "Fair."

"Plus, we only need to use them for a few days." Jeremy crossed his arms.

Veronica glared at him. "You didn't have to straight up say it like that."

"Just trying to cheer up the mood." He replied.

Well… that had the opposite effect.

Soon, the rest of the group minus Mindy appeared.

"There truly is nothing." Jared said, discouraged.

Rial crossed her arms. "I figured as much."

"It was worth a try." The officer replied.

"Did you figure out our sleeping arrangements?" Nila asked.

Veronica nodded. "There are ten small areas in the mirror maze where we could stay. That way we all have our own spaces."

"Amongst other things." Jeremy added to that. What did that mean.

"We should probably get some rest soon. Conserve the energy we have." The technician said.

Soon, Mindy walked up to the group. She seemed kinda angry.

"Any luck?" Ashton asked.

Him asking that just seemed to make her madder. "The locks are almost impossible."

"I told you if you kept trying, you'd die of starvation before." Rial said.

She glared at him. "Well, want to try shooting the locks, if you want to make fun of my methods."

"It'll make sure it ricochets and-" He was cut off.

"Enough!" Nila said. "Now is not the time to argue."

"Everyone is just exhausted." Veronica said. "Let's go to sleep."

We all walked into the mirror maze, and like they said, there were places without mirrors on the edge. We all took one.

Upon sitting down, I looked down a hallway that seemed to be filled with mirrors. It seemed like it went on forever. But… I felt like at the end, I saw someone. It seemed to be Mindy. And when I looked down a different hallway, it looked like Denise all the way in the distance. The mirrors in the center were really weird…

And slowly… I drifted asleep.

.

The next day, I awoke feeling terrible. But that would be expected. All I had to eat yesterday was breakfast. And all the talk about no food seemed to have only made me hungrier. I slowly got up, placing my hand on the back of my neck. Miranda was right, these pillows were nothing compared to the ones at the cottage.

The place I was sleeping was rather close to the entrance, so I left there pretty quickly. I let out a yawn as my stomach growled. Sorry, not today…

"Morning Gregory." Someone said.

I looked over and saw Nila. Of course, she would be up before me.

"Good morning, Nila. How was your sleep?" I asked.

"It was not that bad." She smiled. "I am used to terrible sleeping conditions. I am more worried about the others. Same with the food, I have gone days without eating several times. But…" She looked at the ground. "Me being able to do it means nothing if the others cannot."

Right… she was a soldier after all. "So, you aren't feeling hungry?"

Nila smiled. "Nope! I probably will not feel hungry until tomorrow."

Well, at least one of us won't be suffering for a bit. "We need to figure out something to do to keep everyone's mind off of food. Any ideas?"

"Well…" She trailed off. "We are at a carnival."

I remained silent for a bit. "I don't think that would be the best right now. We can't completely ignore it and pretend that everything is fine."

"I- I am not saying to pretend nothing is wrong. But, it would give us at least a change of emotion." Nila said.

I heard footsteps, followed by a voice. "I agree, it seems stupid. But it's all we can really do…" It was Jared. He had his arms crossed. "It beats doing nothing till we all starve."

"You just want to ride on the bumper cars again." I said.

"T-that's not the reason!" He said defensively. "The more we worry about food, the hungrier we will get."

I nodded.

Soon, the others started to leave the building.

"Man… the pillow isn't great for the neck…" Miranda sighed.

"It felt like sleeping on a rock!" Ashton yelled out. "A more comfortable rock, but still."

Denise just didn't bother saying anything.

Veronica let out a yawn. "Well… seems we are all here."

"What's the plan today, Vera?" Jeremy said to her.

She was silent for a few seconds. "Don't call me that."

"Nika?" He tried out.

"Especially don't call me _that_." She seemed pretty angry now.

Jeremy figured it was best to back off, which is what he did.

"Let's all go to the bumper cars!" Ashton suggested.

"That's a waste of time." Mindy frowned. "I'm going to go back to the gate and see if any of the other ones are easier. Probably going to be disappointed, but whatever." She walked away.

"You know, for a carnival-like area, there isn't too much to do here. Not even a circus." Denise brought up. I guess Monokuma did that so we'd get bored quicker."

"Exactly!" A voice rang out.

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Puhuhuhu!" The bear laughed. "There isn't much for that express purpose. Not even a tent. Then again, the only good performers are already dead."

"I can juggle a little." Nila smiled.

"No one cares!" The bear yelled out. "I also made sure water wasn't available. Or… at least water you'd want to drink."

I'm not even going to go with where I think he was going.

"Well, there's the carousel and the bumper cars." Ashton said.

Jeremy smiled. "Not to mention the various carnival games scattered around the place. We can keep ourselves occupied for a bit."

"Yes, you can, but when will you get sick of it?" Monokuma asked. "I give you a day at best before someone is murdered!"

"Three, take it or leave it." Jeremy said.

"W-what? This isn't a deal." The bear said. "Anyways! I have better things to attend to."

"Like what?" Jared asked.

He simply shrugged. "Better things than talking to all of you!" And with another laugh, he vanished.

"Well, that does put a damper on the mood." Jeremy crossed his arms.

"Screw Monokuma!" Ashton said. "We'll keep ourselves busy for the time being!" He then calmed down. "So…" He started slowing walking towards the area that had the bumper cars. "I'll meet any adversaries there."

He really loves bumper cars. Is he that desperate for his Ultimate Attraction?

The groups split up and everyone went their own way. I let out a small sigh. Alone again. Might as well walk around.

.

I would find myself stopping at the bumper cars. Only two people were here. And it's exactly who you'd expect.

"Gregory! Join us!" Ashton said as soon as I stopped at the railing.

"I'd rather just watch." I said to him.

"Boring." He replied, and when he wasn't paying attention, he got hit by Jared's car, and almost drove into the railing.

"Pay attention." The officer said.

Ashton looked over at him. "No fair! I was talking!" He turned his car around and started going towards Jared.

They both seemed rather good at this. But then again, I didn't know what would classify as good here.

"Hey Ashton, what if this actually was your UA." Jared said, trying to taunt him now.

"W-what?!" He shouted out. "It better not be!"

I shook my head at that. "I'm sure your Ultimate Attraction will be in the next area." I let out a small chuckle. Then, I started thinking. Only four were left. Ashton, Jennifer, Nila, and Veronica's. What do they all have in common anyways? Most of the areas had a certain theme to them, that UA fit into…

Suddenly…

_CRASH_

I looked up and noticed that Ashton had crashed into a car that was unoccupied because Jared kept taunting.

"Get off the road!" He shouted out of instinct. "Wait."

Jared couldn't help but laugh. Which was weird, because I rarely saw him having a good time. But then again, when you are always locked up in a monitoring room, anything else could be considered fun. Well, I had no other reason to be here, I should probably see what others are doing.

.

The next place I went to was the carousel, where a group of three was.  
Rial was leaning against a pole that seemed to have speakers on them.

Meanwhile Denise and Miranda were both on the carousel itself.

"Monokuma was right." Rial looked at the ground. "This place is boring."

"It's not that bad." Miranda said, before disappearing behind the center of the carousel.

Denise was now in sight. "No, it is boring."

"Yeah, I gotta agree." I said.

The three, or, the two of them glanced at me. Miranda was still out of view.

"Here to join us?" Rial asked.

I shook my head. "I'm just passing by."

When Miranda's horse passed by us, she hopped off. "But just walking around will wear you out." Denise was now out of view.

That's true, but it's also all I've been doing for the past two weeks… "I guess I could try the carousel."

Denise shook her head. "It would be better if it was faster."

Rial watched her as she appeared in view again. "Knowing Monokuma, there's probably a faster setting on this.

"No there isn't!" Monokuma said.

Miranda let out a yell, probably expecting Monokuma to be the last to appear here.

"Don't yell, my ears are sensitive!" He called out. "But no, there isn't any faster setting on there, sadly." He looked at the ground. "If there was, I would have turned it on just to fling someone off."

Denise got off the carousel. "And if someone were to die from that, wouldn't the blood be on your hands?"

He started to sweat. "What? No… that would be them dying of natural causes!"

"No it wouldn't." Rial glared at him.

Denise smirked. "Something tells me that's the real reason. You'd be too tempted to send someone flying."

He just kept sweating. "W-what? N-no."

The two girls just kept staring at him.

"Fine!" He yelled out. "You're right."

"That's all that's holding you back?" Miranda asked.

"There's nothing that beats students flying through the air!" Monokuma laughed.

Rial reached for her weapon. "And nothing beats watching a stuffed bear get it's head blown off."

"Let's not be hasty!" He said. "I already warned you after the first time."

"And that, is what's holding _me_ back." The sniper said as a threat. "As soon as your threat doesn't hold any weight." She trailed off.

"Alright! I get it." Monokuma said. "Anyways, I'll let you all return to what little fun you were all having! Puhuhuhuhu!" And then, he left.

I let out a small sigh. Then my stomach growled. The rest of this was going to suck.

.

.

.

It was already night time now as I made my way back to the mirror maze, which was still a weird place to sleep in. I felt like there were better places to sleep in. But, no one said no to it, so it's probably for the better.

"Heading to bed?" Veronica said, walking up to me. She seemed rather tired.

I nodded. "Yeah… I don't know how long I'll be able to stay up with this little energy."

"Yeah, same." She leaned against the wall, thinking. "I'm worried about which will happen first…"

"Which will happen first?" I asked.

She crossed her arms. "Whether someone will die of dehydration first, or someone gets killed. What would Monokuma do if one of us did die of dehydration? Would the motive keep going?"

I thought for a bit. "I doubt he'd stop the motive just for that… If anything, he might see it as more incentive."

"Thinking about the motive?" Ashton asked, walking up to us.

We both nodded at him.

He walked over to the wall and sat down against it. "It's the worst thing ever." He let out a sigh. "But all we can do is pull through!"

I smiled, although it was a weak one. "Yeah."

"There's no pulling through this." Rial said, as she walked up to the mirror maze. "Some of us will have to die, there's no denying that. It's just who will be the one to kill." She sounded harsh about it.

"Hey! Don't say things like that!" Ashton yelled out.

She tilted her head slightly. "It's true, someone is going to have to mercy kill to stop the motive."

The racer was going to say something, but stopped himself. "..."

"I don't like the idea either, but we're at the point that I don't think anyone will kill just to get out anymore." She said. "And I think Monokuma knows that."

It is true, we've been here for about two weeks. Although, I kinda lost track of the days. It feels like two weeks, however.

Rial started moving to the entrance. "We'll see soon who's going to make the noble play." And then she disappeared into the building.

I let out a sigh. The noble play, huh?

"Don't listen to her…" Ashton said, getting up. "I'm sure we can find a way around this motive." And then, he left.

Can we really…?

"Well, I'm heading to bed." Veronica said. "I need to sleep before my stomach gets too annoying…" And with that, she also left.

I was alone now. I let out another sigh. I might as well head to bed too. I made my way to the area I slept last night and sat down. The pillow, still very uncomfortable, but Denise would hate for me to say that. And soon, I drifted to sleep.

.

I woke up in the morning. Man my neck still hurts from sleeping like this… I sat up, just looking around. The mirrors all around still looked messed up. I let out a yawn before getting up and leaving.

"Good morning." Nila said, already outside. She has a bright smile on her face. She really was unbothered by all of this. I wish I had her strength.

"Morning." I replied, given that it wasn't a good one.

We both waited for everyone else to get up. While waiting, I was really starting to feel hunger descend upon me. I could understand surviving another day like this, but what would happen tomorrow?

Soon, the others started to get out of the building.

Miranda stretched her arms and yawned. "I think I got used to the pillows, I slept way better this time."

Denise smirked. "They just take time to get used to."

Well, we don't have time to get used to them. I let out a small sigh.

Veronica walked out, dejected. "I need food soon…" She looked around. "I say we got another day and a half at best before…" She trailed off.

Rial nodded. "We need to figure out something to do, and quick."

"But we've looked around." Jared said. "There's nothing else we can do."

"Let's shoot down a bird." The sniper replied.

Jeremy shook his head. He crossed his arms, avoiding Rial's gaze. "I haven't seen any birds since we got to this area. It's probably like that on purpose. Monokuma had to make sure we had absolutely no food at our disposal."

"There's also the problem with water." Mindy said.

"Well, there's probably water somewhere." Jeremy crossed his arms with a frown. "I'm not sure how much people would be willing to drink it, however."

Miranda shook her head at that. "Rain would be good right about now."

"It's December." Rial said, crossing his arms. "It shouldn't really rain."

Nor did it seem like it would snow…

"So, either way, we're screwed!" Ashton said. "This sucks!"

"Definitely the worst motive." Denise said. "Hell, I'd rather the Reverse Disease motive."

"That motive was awful!" Nila called out, before looking at the ground. "I almost took someone's life."

"And we would have nowhere to hide now. We don't know what happened to the key." Jeremy said.

"But at least we all wouldn't be starving." Denise said.

"Either way, the motive would make us act irrational." Rial said. "Just not all at once…"

I crossed my arms. "They are both terrible motives…"

Denise looked annoyed, but eventually let out a sigh, looking at the ground. It seems she was thinking deeply about something.

"Well, I think we should all go find something to do." Jared said. "No point moping around here."

Everyone seemed to agree and we all left.

.

I had now wandered to the carnival games. Maybe, hoping one of them would interest me.

_POP!_

I glanced over at the sound and saw Jeremy holding a toy gun. He had just popped a balloon with it. He let out a small sigh. "These games are just too easy. I want a real challenge."

I walked over to him. "Well, aren't these games normally rigged?"

He let out a small laugh. "Normally, but I have always been good at them."

"Why don't you join the others at the bumper cars." I asked.

"I'm not allowed to drive." He answered.

I was silent for a bit. "But… they aren't real cars."

Jeremy was also silent for a bit. "I guess you're right."

"Sometimes, I think you've hit your head." Veronica said, standing behind him.

The surfer turned to look at her. "Hey Ron."

"Don't call me that." She said.

He frowned, arms crossed. "You really don't like nicknames."

"My name is fine as it is right now." She smiled.

He kept frowning. "But it's such a long name."

"It's two letters longer than your name!" She said.

He started counting the letters of both names before crossing his arms with a small smile. "So it would seem."

Veronica pouted slightly. "How can you go from being smart to this?"

He only laughed at this. "I don't know, the brain sure is a marvel."

For some reason, Jeremy always seemed off to me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He said to me.

"N-nothing!" I replied. What was going on in that head of his? I crossed my arms. After a bit, I left.

.

I made my way to the gate, and saw two people there. And, seeing them both there made sense.

"Dammit!" Mindy yelled out, kicking the gate out of pure rage. "This is nothing like the locks I've had to open in my life.

"C-calm down." Nila said quickly. "Frustration will not help us."

The thief let out a small sigh. "I know, but I haven't really done anything to help out. I've only been a hindrance as of late." She crossed her arms, dejected. "My lab was used for a murder, and last time, not only did I ruin the party, I didn't even bother helping out in the trial."

I walked over to the two of them. "Don't beat yourself up over it."

She jumped a little, because apparently I sneaked up on her. "Hey, make more noise when you walk around."

"He was walking loudly enough already." Nila said.

Thanks, Nila.

"I was just walking around, and noticed you two weren't with everyone else." I said. "I figured I'd find you at the gate."

"I'm trying my hardest, alright." Mindy said, defensively.

Seems she was on edge. "I didn't say anything about not trying. And I heard you say you haven't done anything to help out. And that's not true."

"Then tell me, how did I help out?" She asked me.

You got me there. "Well, you were able to help us out in the second trial because it was your lab. And you are trying your best to help us out now. Everyone else has just moved onto trying to pass the time. Don't ever say you are useless because I know you aren't." I said to try and reassure her.

"See?" Nila smiled. "If you ask me, you are not useless."

Mindy just stared at me before going back to picking the lock. "Yeah, but the others seem much more useful than me. Jared helps monitor the areas to make sure nothing bad happens. Veronica saved us in the first trial by continuing the trial when we all accused him. She also became a leader when we were all infected. Talia offered her own Ultimate Attraction has shelte-"

"Enough!" Nila said. "That all means nothing!"

That kinda came out of nowhere.

"Nila-" Mindy started to say.

"No. Let me talk!" She said. "I haven't been helpful either. In fact, I got infected too, and tried to get everyone. But you do not see me sulking about it. I am even less helpful during trials." She frowned. "I do not like the idea of figuring out who killed. Because that means we get closer to the killer's death… And I do not want to be responsible for that…"

That would explain why she barely talks during trials.

Mindy remained silent the entire time, thinking about what she said. "..." She went back to picking the lock. "I'll think about this."

Seems she wasn't going to talk much more…"Are you su-"

"Yes, you can leave now." She said, sadly.

I didn't want to disturb her anymore, so I left like she said.

.

I had made my way back to the mirror maze to see Rial was now there. She was staring at the sky like a hawk.

"Huh… what are you doing?" I asked.

Without looking at me, she answered. "Well, I was seeing if I could spot a bird. Maybe I could shoot it down."

And we were at that stage. Seemed the hunger was even affecting Rial. The only one unbothered by it all was Nila. "Any luck?" I regret asking that.

"Of course not, if I had any luck, some of us at least would have eaten." She answered bitterly, sending a glare my way.

"Sorry for asking…" I mumbled.

She looked at the ground. "It's probably fruitless to even do this. I haven't seen a bird the last few days. And even then, I don't think we have a way to cook it." She turned around. "I should be heading to bed now…" And with that. She left.

I should probably also head to bed soon too. I walked into the building and made my way to where I slept the two previous nights. It was so uncomfortable, but it's all we had for the time being.

I layed down against the mirror. My hunger was becoming too much to bare. What if I didn't wake up from this? I glanced around at the mirrors around me. I could still see Denise and Mindy sleeping, like the other nights, although, I didn't know where they were exactly in the mirror maze, as it was difficult to tell what was real or not.

Soon, my eyes drifted close, and I began to sleep…

.

.

.

.

I was standing on the sidewalk, looking at the road as cars passed by. I don't know why I did that, but watching them felt nice. One day, I could drive. After a bit of staring, I felt a figure standing behind me. I quickly turned around and saw a shadowy figure standing above me, and in an instance, a scenery flashed in front of me. And then, they hit me with something.

Everything went dark…

My vision came back with me looking at the road. I don't know what happened, but everything was fine now.

Until, I heard a woman screaming. Her voice, coming from behind me. And then, I heard another voice, this time another girl.

"W-why did you do that? Y-you should not have done that!" The voice said.

I turned towards where the voice where coming from, and was met with a sea of fire. That sea of fire was my house.

Worried about what happened, I ran into the house without even thinking.

I ran into the living room, where I saw three people. Two were on the floor, not moving. And the third, was standing above them.

Upon closer inspection, the two people on the ground looked like mom and dad. I slowly looked at the third person. It was him.

He slowly turned to face me. "I'm sorry, you shouldn't have seen any of that."

"B-brother…?" I said, terrified.

He started walking towards me, stopping only a foot away. "It had to be like this…" He lifted his arm towards me and gave me a shove.

Then, like mirrors, everything shattered.

I was falling into an abyss.

I was falling for what felt like an eternity.  
Eventually, I stopped falling after landing on a white plane.

Then, I heard voices talking.

"So you want to join us?"

I blinked my eyes open as I looked around. A bunch of shadowy people stood there. Were they talking to me? They couldn't. This… this didn't feel like _my_ dream.

"I'd like that very much…" A voice said. I looked over at who it was and saw him again. He slowly craned his head towards me as his eyes glowed red.

And then finally, I woke up.

.

When I woke up, my head was throbbing. Was the nightmare that bad? Shaking my head, I stood up, almost falling back down. Or, now that I think about it, this is probably just the lack of food and water. How can Nila even do this? I looked around where I was sleeping. Something felt off, but I was too exhausted to care. I just wanted to go back to sleep. But… no, I had to see if everyone was fine.

Slowly by slowly, I exited the building.

Veronica was leaning against the entrance, staring at the ground. Clearly, she was going through the same thing. She glanced up at me and gave a weak. "Good morning…"

I waved at her to respond. I was not in the right mind to even talk at the moment.

"I… know this sounds like a bad idea… but… I was wondering if you just wanted to walk a little bit?" She asked me.

She clearly had more energy than I did. Being able to talk and go on a walk? Although… I couldn't say no to her… Probably because my mind didn't feel in the right place. I let out a slow nod.

And then, we started walking.

"This is awful…" Veronica mumbled. "I've never gone this long without eating. The longest was a day…" She almost tripped on herself but quickly recovered, a little more awake than what she was before.

And suddenly… I heard it.

It was the carnival music that had been playing the entire time we've been here. But, something else was off about it. It sounded… distorted. Whether it was my own sanity escaping me, or reality, I had to investigate for myself. "Something… wrong…" I managed to mumbled out.

And soon, we reached what was wrong. A pole that had speakers on had collapsed, making the eerie music that was playing. And beyond that, lead the horror we had unknowingly been walking to.

.

The crashed wooden pole was on a broken piece of a horse, as well as the metal rod holding it to the carousel. Part of the broken metal was covered in blood. Over to the right of it, one of the horses had something on it. A body. The body was slumped over on the back of the horse. Blood ran down their head, as well as their chest, which formed a puddle of blood on the ground. Between them and the horse, what looked like an umbrella was there. The victim this time was none other than the Ultimate Designer, Denise Chic.


	9. Chapt 4: Condemned to Death-Deadly Life

What…? Well, if I wasn't awake before, I sure am now.

"D-Denise!" Veronica managed to say before falling down out of shock.

It didn't help that the eerie music was playing the entire time. I quickly helped Veronica up to her feet. "We have to tell the other-" But, before I could finish that sentence…

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

The monitor on the broken pole lit up, although it was very distorted.

.

"A b-b-b-ody has been disc-c-c-c-! Pleeeeeeeea- over to-to-to-to-to! Investigatio- s-s-s-ooon!" And then the screen seemed to have just died.

But, the distorted message seemed to have set the mood for this entire trial.

Not long after, the others gathered.

"Please don't tell me it's so!" Ashton yelled out. But, he stopped in his tracks having seen what was in front of us. "Dammit!" He yelled out.

Rial didn't seem as bothered. "Something like this had to happen for the rest of us to live."

"Are you saying you did it?!" The racer asked.

She was silent for a bit. "No, I did not."

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Well, you guys were cutting it close!" Monokuma said. "I was sure you were all going to die soon, but luckily, someone was smart enough to kill!"

"Can it!" Ashton yelled out.

"Can it? And to think I came here to bring you food and water." The bear looked dejected.

"W-wait!" The racer quickly said.

Monokuma shook his head. "I guess when you all die, you can blame Ashton."

He seemed to be freaking out. "Wait! No! Give us the food!"

And with that, the bear disa-

Suddenly.

Bear.

Again.

"Alright! I will give you what you want!" He said as he took out food and water.

Everyone, including me, made our way to him.

The food he gave us was just simple bread, but it tasted like the best thing I've ever had. I guess that's what happens when you don't eat for three days.

"I've missed the taste of food so much." Veronica mumbled while eating.

I glanced around and noticed even Nila was wolfing down her meal. I guess three days was enough for her, too.

Although… this whole thing felt awful. Next to us, a body was laying on a carousel, and here we were, doing nothing but eating. But, we aren't even really thinking about that. She could have been here, eating with us. But she will never be able to again.

"Gregory?" Veronica asked, noticing I was deep in thought.

I looked over at her. "Y-yes?"

"You stopped eating." She commented. I looked down at my piece of bread and realized I had only taken a few bites. Was I not as desperate as I thought I was?

"... I'll eat it later. Now doesn't seem like a good time. Especially…" I looked over at Denise. While the mystery still lay unsolved, I shouldn't be able to eat.

She looked over at where I was looking, before nodding. "You're right."

"Now…" Monokuma started off. "Before I head off, I think I should hand you all the Monokuma File!" And with that, he pulled out the said file. "Read it and weep."

"Why would we weep?" Rial asked.

He simply shrugged before vanishing.

I looked at the blank screen of the file before eventually opening it.

.

**Monokuma File #5**

.

**The victim this time is Denise Chic, the Ultimate Designer. She died at 6:01. The cause of death this time seemed to have been when she was pierced in the chest. Death was immediate. She also suffered blunt force trauma to the head. Not much else is known.**

.

As usual, we don't get much info. But, I think this is a lot compared to some other time. Time of death, check. Cause of death, check. And… Blunt force trauma? I'll have to check that out when I go check her body.

"Are you ready to investigate?" Veronica asked. I gave her a nod. It was now or never.

As always, I made my way to the body first. Might as well get the worse part out of the way first…

We both walked over to the body and it was just as bad as all the other bodies we found.

The first thing that took my interest was the umbrella. It was rather weirdly placed. The last few days, she wore it on her back. So why move it to the front. I picked it up to see if it was covering anything, but it wasn't. It was rather odd. The whole thing was drenched in blood, probably from the blood dripping from her head and chest.

Jeremy took the umbrella. "I'll keep this safe." He smiled. Alrighty then.

Next thing I wanted to take a look at was the wounds. I looked over at her head and saw that it was rather bloody. The head injury was on her right side. As for the other injury she had. It seemed that it was a rather small hole.

"Definitely not from a knife." Veronica noted.

"I gathered that." I replied.

There didn't seem to be anything else to note about the injury.

"Hmm…" Jeremy crossed his arms. "I did notice something interesting…" He moved to the other side of Denise.

I moved over to see where he was going. That's when I noticed around the same spot as in the front, there was a small hole on her back.

"Seems like an exit point." He noted.

"So…" Veronica trailed off. "Whatever was used to kill her went all the way through."

He nodded, glancing aways with his arms crossed. "Pretty much."

What could have caused something like that?

"But besides that, that's all I noticed." The surfer said. "I guess I won't be useful this time around." He smiled.

Next thing I wanted to explore was the broken horse that laid on the ground.

Upon getting closer to it…

It was no longer attached to the carousel, like something had broken the metal pole keeping it attached. Also, on the tip of one of the broken poles, it was coated in a lot of blood. Is this-

"The murder weapon." Nila said, standing beside me.

I nodded. "Seems like it."

"Forcibly shoved onto there?" Veronica started mumbling. "She probably got shoved onto it and… yeah…" Veronica frowned.

I wouldn't want to be there to see that.

Looking around, I found that there seemed to be pieces of the carousel roof on the ground scattered around. Interesting…

"From the looks of where she was hurt." Nila started talking. "I think she did not feel much pain and died rather quickly." She frowned. "It looks to be where her heart was."

I frowned too. Well, if she didn't feel any pain, I think that's a bright side to this very grim situation. But still… I let out a sigh. I started to walk off the platform of the carousel, almost tripping on the wooden pole that was lying there. "Oh yeah, forget that was there."

"It looks really heavy." Veronica said.

I thought for a few moments. "We should move it and see if we find anything…"

We both got on one side of the pole and started pushing with all our strengths, but we barely got it to budge one bit.

"What are we even going to get from moving it?" Veronica asked.

"Good question." I replied.

Ashton walked up to us. "Need some help?"

I looked over at him before nodding. "Three people might be able to do it."

We all started to push it, and slowly, it rolled out of the way.

Ashton remained silent for a bit. "Why did we push it?"

I don't really kno- I looked at the wooden pole and noticed something rather interesting. "Is that blood?"

Veronica looked over at part of the wooden pole. "Yeah… that is."

"B-blood?" Ashton asked. "Why would that be there?"

That wasn't the only thing that was there. Under where the pole landed, there were some shoe prints. Was someone standing there when this landed? This is interesting. The person seemed to have been standing with the carousel on their right and the post on their left.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Veronica asked me.

I nodded at that. This would be a good point to bring up in the trial. Although… None of this actually helped us with who did it.

Ashton flashed us a thumbs up. "Glad I could help."

"For once." Could be heard somewhere in the distance. It sounded like Rial.

Then, we walked further down the wooden post, where Rial was standing.

"Hey Rial." I said to her.

She looked over at me. "Hello." She coldly responded.

Thanks for the heartfelt reply…

"Like you said…" Veronica said. "Someone mercy killed."

She remained silent for a few seconds. "Whether it was truly mercy or not as yet to be determined." She crossed her arms. "For now, we just have to be grateful."

That sounds so horrible… to be grateful for someone's death…

But… now wasn't the time to be worrying about stuff like that. I had to search around.

One thing that caught my interest was a trash can that seemed to be full. I pulled out the top thing and froze slightly. This is one of the pillows that Denise and the rest made.

"What's a pillow doing there?" Veronica asked.

"I… I don't know…" I looked around it.

Rial took a look at it. "Maybe something incriminating was on it."

No, there didn't seem to be anything on it. Unless… I opened it up and a bunch of clothes fell out. I sorted through all the clothes but still, nothing of interest in any of them.

"If only Denise was still alive to see you destroy her work of art." Rial said. She took a glance in the trashcan and noticed something. "What…?" She took out what appeared to be a metal bar. "So that's where that ended up."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

She tossed the metal bar aside. "Nothing."

We stared at each other in silence for a bit.

"... I just realized it had blood on it." She picked it up again.

I took a glance at it and it did have faint traces of blood. Interesting. "Anyways… before that, what did you say?"

She tossed the metal bar away. "I said nothing."

There was one more thing in the trash can. It looked like a saw of sorts.

"Oh yeah, that." Jeremy said, walking over to us. "I saw them at the carnival games. It was for one of them."

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, so, it's likely it was gotten from there."

Alright… There's probably no point in going there later, but I guess I should anyways…

We stepped away from the pole, and looked at everyone who was just standing around. Some of them were still eating their food.

I walked over to Mindy, who was staring at the body from a distance. She didn't seem to notice we had walked up to her. "Mindy?" I asked.

She shook her head slightly and glanced over at us. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?" I asked her.

She looked back at the body, and then at her food. "Yeah… just grateful…" She frowned. Then, she looked back at the body, sadness in her eyes. "That could have been any of us."

I looked at Denise, nodding slowly. "Yeah… it could have."

Mindy took another bite out of her food. "Don't let me stop you from investigating." She smiled.

I nodded and stepped away.

The next person I walked over to was Jared, who seemed to be somewhat mad.

"What's the point of an officer who can't even save the day!" He said, clenching his fist. "This is the fifth time a murder has happened, and I could do nothing."

"Calm down…" I said. "It… it was inevitable…" Wow, I guess Rial was getting to me.

"But…" He mumbled. "If someone had come to me, I would have gladly have played the victim!"

"W-what?" I quickly said.

"You would have played the victim?" Veronica asked.

Jared nodded. "I could have at least saved people that way. But…" He crossed his arms, tapping his foot on the ground. "Things don't always go like you want them to."

What's with everyone feeling useless now? I'm starting to feel useless now…

I let out a sigh and made my way to Ashton.

"This is messed up." He said, as soon as I walked over to him.

"I know…" I said sadly.

Veronica frowned. "It is… but we don't have much time to talk about it…"

"You're right…" Ashton sighed. "But have any of you guys had this feeling the last couple of days."

Feeling? "What feeling?"

He stared at the ground, intently. "Like someone was waiting to kill you?"

That sure came out of nowhere. "No… I… I don't think I have." I said.

He took a deep sigh. "The feeling is gone now, but I thought maybe someone was going to kill me."

"Why didn't you tell anyone before?" Veronica asked him.

The racer rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I guess I kinda accepted it, you know?"

Accepting that someone wanted to kill him? I shook my head. "I'm sure it was just your imagination. You know, with having no food at all."

Ashton thought of this for a bit before smiling. "You're probably right!"

You know… Now that I think of it, I did get the feeling at one point. I just don't know when it was…

And finally, we walked over to Miranda. Who had only taken a few bites of the piece of bread.

"Aren't you going to eat?" I asked her.

She looked sadly at her food before looking at me. "I can't… it feels… wrong…"

"B-but you have to eat!" I said.

"You haven't eaten either." Veronica deadpanned.

Haha… got me there. "But seriously, you should eat soon."

Miranda took a small bite. "I… I just can't…"

"You won't be in any condition to go to the trial if you don't eat." Veronica said, although it was aimed more towards me.

The violinist looked at Veronica before nodding. And soon, she finished her food.

"We should go to the carnival games now." The technician said.

I nodded. "After that… there's one place I want to check after that."

"Oh?" She looked at me, curious. "And where would that be?"

"I want to head back to the mirror maze. Something caught my attention…" I said.

"Why?" She seemed confused.

I shook my head. "You'll see when we get there." And then we arrived at the carnival games.

"It should be the one in the back." Veronica said, making a beeline for it. She looked around before nodding. "Yep, it's gone."

I finally reached the game she was at. "By the way, what kind of game uses a saw for it?"

She shrugged. "This one apparently, I don't know. I haven't tried any of the games…"

"I should ask Jeremy about this later…" I mumbled. "Alright, back to the mirror maze." I said as we left for that direction.

"Why won't you tell me what you want to check out." Veronica asked.

"Well…" I trailed off. "There's the pillow that we found in the trash can. And also, I think I saw something that was _off_ where I slept."

"Off…?" She repeated.

I nodded. And soon, we arrived at where I slept.

"There it is…" I said, noticing that there was now a teddy bear leaning against one of the mirrors. I walked over to it. "Why is this here?" I picked it up looking around at it.

"Huh… Gregory…?" Veronica said.

I looked over at her. "Yeah?"

She slowly pointed to the mirror that the teddy bear was covering. I took a glance at it and noticed that the entire lower part was shattered. The only reason I didn't see it was because of the teddy bear.

"Why is that there…?" I mumbled.

Veronica shook her head. "I wish I knew…"

I let out a small sigh. "Now, just one thing to check…" I started to walk along the building before finally, the fourth area that wasn't my own, I found what I was looking for. Or, moreso a lack thereof. "There's no pillow here." I commented.

Veronica looked around and nodded. "It would seem that there wasn't any…"

I was going to say something, when…

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

The monitor lit up, showing Monokuma. "Well, looks like I've given you enough time to investigate! Meet at the fountain, so we can commence the class trial!" He laughed before the screen turned off.

.

"We should probably head there now, before he gets mad." Veronica said as she left.

I nodded and took a step before I started to feel pain in my stomach. I shook my head and followed her.

.

We finally reached the fountain, where everyone else stood silently.

Ashton was looking down at the ground. "And now, here comes the worst part…"

Nila frowned. "Yeah…"  
Finding the killer… For some reason, finding this killer feels like it's going to sting a lot. No matter who it is.

It's because of them we are even alive…

Soon, the fountain opened up to reveal the elevator. We all stepped in.

The elevator ride down was rather silent.

"It's true we are alive because of them." Mindy said. "But this is a full on sacrifice. Them killing will be meaningless to us if they get away."

I have to agree.

I just hope that the killer doesn't try and use this opportunity to get free.

Soon, the elevator stopped at the bottom. And, the doors opened. We all stepped out and went to our regular places.

This time, the two new picture frames belonged to Denise and Mason. Mason had a puppet cross as an X. And, Denise was made of stitching needles. I frowned seeing that.

We all stopped at our podiums, looking at one another.

_Several pictures appear_

_One of Miranda playing her violin_

_One of Jerry juggling._

_One of Jeremy waving casually._

_One of Mason smirking mischievously._

_One of Matthew stroking his chin._

One of us saved us all…

_One of Veronica holding on tightly to a wrench._

_One of Denise lowering her sunglasses._

_One of Nila with her hands held close to her._

_One of Richard, looking off into the distance._

_One of Talia holding a tray, looking angry._

_One of Rial, looking at the ground, this time, as a girl._

Or doomed us all…

_One of Mindy, with an ice pick._

_One of Jared, adjusting his cap._

_One of Katrine, glancing away._

_One of Ashton, fist bumping himself._

_One of Gregory, looking determined._

Here, we'll find out if they truly sacrificed themselves!

.

"Before we actually start…" Rial started off. "If the culprit wants to come out and admit it was them, none of us will hold any animosity towards you. You did what had to be done." She looked around, hoping to see someone lift their hands.

But nothing…

She shook her head. "Very well, then we will find the truth ourselves."

"The long way is fine, really." Jeremy said, crossing his arms with a smile.

"Where do we even start this time?" Ashton said. "Nothing much was really found."

You pushed a log and called it a day… But… yeah, nothing much _was_ found.

"Let's just concentrate on how the murder was commited…" Veronica sighed, looking annoyed already.

"Right." Mindy said. "She died from getting stabbed in the heart, but, before that, she seemed to have suffered some blunt force trauma."

Jeremy kept his arms crossed. "Not enough to kill her, but probably enough to knock her out."

"Makes sense, it would have been easy to finish her off after that." Jared said, seeming to hate that he said that.

I nodded. "Yeah, and I think it was the wooden post that did the job."

"You mean the wooden post we rolled out of the way?" Ashton asked. "Huh, I thought it was rather useless."

"Of course you did." Rial glanced away, annoyed. "Anyways, we also found a saw blade near the post, in a trashcan. Which was likely used to cut it."

"And, anyone could have gotten it, as it was used in one of the carnival games." Jeremy said.

"We also found a metal bar that Rial keeps acting suspicious about." I said, looking over at her.

She simply shrugged it off. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"And, covering it all up." I continued. "We found a pillow. One of the ones Denise and the others made."

"What was it doing there?" Mindy asked.

I didn't quite know for sure, but I had a feeling.

.

"Well, to cover up some of the evidence, really." I said. "Not long after that, Veronica and I went to the mirror maze to check a few things out. Someone was missing a pillow, so it's likely the killer used their own pillow to-"

"But, that pillow's were there for a few days." Miranda said.

I looked at her for a few seconds, confused. "What?"

"I can vouch, I saw it there two days." Jeremy crossed his arms. "It seems the killer saw it and decided to make use of it."

Well… there goes that theory. Then it was just a coincidence…

"Moving on…" Rial said. "It's very likely that they used the wooden post to hit Denise in the end."

"We can even figure out where she was standing." Veronica said. Under the post, there were some footprints. I did a little diagram, and based on how tall she was, and where she was standing. The blood stain lines up pretty well." When did she even have time to make a diagram?

"Yeah, but they couldn't have cut that post that quickly." Ashton said. "Denise would have seen them do it!"

"U-unless this is what Denise wanted to have happen." Nila said, not liking the idea one bit. "Like, a mutual agreement…"

Rial shook her head. "That's a possibility, but the wooden post could have been cut partially through, and all it would need is to be shoved."

Veronica nodded. "With so little food, it's likely she wouldn't have been able to react if she saw it."

"And are you saying it left footprints because the force pushed her down?" Jared asked.

The technician nodded. "We hadn't been making any footprints despite walking around the entire area. So it stood out like a sore thumb."

"Hmm…" Jeremy hummed in thought. I didn't like when he did that.

"I can't imagine how bad that would have hurt." Jared said.

"Let's hope on the off chance that she was knocked out without feeling any pain. "Miranda said, looking at the ground. Yeah, I would hope that too. The wooden post was really heavy.

"Let's move onto the actual murder weapon." Rial said.

Nila nodded. "The broken horse. It was covered in a lot of blood."

The sniper nodded. "Precisely, and there was a thin sharp metal part sticking out."

"Which reminds me." Ashton said, speaking up. "How did it break in the first place?"

There was silence in the room.

Jared shook his head. "You can't be serious, right?"

"Hey! Give me a break!" He clenched his fist. "You think one piece of bread is enough to give me back all my energy?"

Everyone remained silent.

"The wooden post…" I said, shaking my head. "It broke through the top of the carousel, and probably broke the metal pole holding the horse together." I thought that was obvious, and barely ate anything…

"I think anyone could have realized that." Mindy said, rolling her eyes.

Ashton looked at everyone before looking at the ground. "I just need more food, I'm too hungry to even think right."

I let out a sigh, tossing the rest of my food to him. "Here, I didn't eat all of mine."

The racer caught it. He spent a few seconds looking at it before he started to eat it.

"Gregory!" Veronica shouted at me. Whoops. "I told you to eat that."

I rubbed the back of my head. "And I said I wasn't going to eat until this mystery was solved." Well, eat anymore at least. I had a few bites.

"Alright!" Ashton yelled out, pumping his fist together. "Let's get this show on the road!"

Mindy snickered. "Ashton finally decided to join the trial."

"Y'all are mean." He looked at the ground, dejected.

Rial shook her head, although, she seemed amused. "We've wasted enough time fooling around here, let's get back to the task at hand."

"Right." Nila nodded. "So, back to the horse. There are two ways the killer could have done it."

"Two ways?" I asked.

The soldier nodded with a smile. "They could have simply lifted up the broken horse and stabbed Denise while she was on the ground. Although they would have had to break the lower part off."

"And the second?" Ashton asked her.

Nila went silent. "It is more gruesome."

Wait.. but the lower part wasn't broken off… So that first one wouldn't be possible… Wait… "Are you saying that they pushed the body against the broken piece itself."

"That is the more likely possibility…" She said.

Ashton rubbed the back of his head. "What a way to go…"

"At least she was unconscious for it." Jared said. "Seemingly."

Rial didn't seem really bothered. "And then finally, the killer moved the body on top of the horse next to it."

"And added the umbrella." Nila said.

"The only question…" Jeremy said. "Would be why." He smirked.

"Why move the body?" I asked. I mean, yeah… there isn't a reason. The only thing is really does is add to the discovery.

Rial shot Jeremy a glance. Haha… Rial sho- Anyways. "Are you saying there was a reason?"

The surfer shook his head. He crossed his arms with a frown. "No, there was no reason I could see. Which is what makes it so weird."

"Well, that should be all." Nila said. "But, that does not leave us with very much."

Just like I thought, little evidence, and little to talk about. None of this even leads to a person.

"I guess now, we can discuss what Denise was doing outside the mirror maze." Rial said. "Whether she was taken out by force, or she left on her own will is unknown."

Jared nodded. "It's possible the killer and her had an agreement." He suggested. "After all, two people need to die. One to play the killer, and one to play the victim."

"The other day…" Jeremy trailed off. "When we were talking about the motive, after we finished. Denise seemed to be in deep thought. So it was likely that she was contemplating something."

"Perhaps to sacrifice her life." Rial said. "Although, I would see her more as the killer than the victim."

Nila shook her head. "I think she would play the victim."

"Well, no matter what she'd actually be, she ended up as the victim." Jeremy said.

Right, she was the victim. So it's possible she struck a deal with the killer…. Why do I feel light headed?

"But, if this is like you said, a deal, the killer should just come out and say it's them." Mindy said. "We shouldn't be wasting our time here."

"There is always the possibility the killer is not ready to die yet." Nila said.

Miranda nodded. "Maybe they aren't planning on getting away with it."

"Yeah." Jeremy said. "It would take a lot to out yourself as the killer, because that's basically signing your death."

Yeah, I can understand why the killer wouldn't come out and say it's them... …! There's the pain again…

"In all honesty, it doesn't matter why the person did it, we'll figure that out soon after we find who did it." Rial said, crossing her arms. She glared at the people around her. "I just wish we weren't wasting time."

"If you had killed, you wouldn't have come out with it right away." Ashton said loudly.

She glanced at him. "Actually, I would have." She seemed more annoyed at him.

Veronica was looking at me. "G-gregory?"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You're bleeding…" She said.

I'm what…? Without even really thinking about it, my hand went to the left side of my head. When I removed my hand, I saw faint traces of blood. W-what? My legs felt weak. The blood, along with the fact that I barely ate, made me collapse…

.

.

.

Intermission…

.

.

.

Was I dreaming, or was I dead? I couldn't really tell, honestly…

But, for the sake of my consciousness still being here, I'll say that I was alive…

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I was back in the mirror maze. Was this a memory?

That's when I realized that someone was standing over me.

It looked like a girl, and she was holding something.

"I'm sorry about this… I want you to know I chose at random…" It sounded like a familiar voice. "But, this had to happen." She raised whatever she was holding and then struck me on the head.

Then everything went dark again…

.

.

.

"Gregory!" A voice rang out, as I slowly regained consciousness.

I slowly opened my eyes to see Veronica kneeled over me. It seems I was on the ground. "Ve-" As soon as I spoke.

"Eat, dammit!" She stuck bread in my mouth. "You passed out because of the blood and because you refused to eat. You even gave your bread to Ashton." She shook her head. She seemed mad, in a very caring sort of way.

I ate the bread slowly before sitting up. "I don't know why I was bleeding…" She helped me get back on my feet. "Wait, did Monokuma give more bread out?"

She shook her head. "Actually, Miranda offered the rest of hers."

"So you get mad at me for giving mine awa-" I started to say.

This was met by a glare.

Alright, I get it. I slowly walked over to my podium. What was that dream…?

"Well, if you are done passing out." Rial said, shaking her head. "Then I think it's time to continue."

Monokuma laughed a little. "To think someone would be dumb enough not to eat! After I so generously supplied food. Well, you won't get any more from me until after the trial!"

"I don't think we'll be here that long anyways…" Jeremy crossed his arms.

… I wasn't going to be content until I figured out what I just saw was…

…

Hmm…

.

And then I remembered my dream last night…

.

_I was standing on the sidewalk, looking at the road as cars passed by. I don't know why I did that, but watching them felt nice. One day, I could drive. After a bit of staring, I felt a figure standing behind me. I quickly turned around and saw a shadowy figure standing above me, and in an instance, a scenery flashed in front of me. And then, they hit me with something._

_Everything went dark…_

.

What's with me dreaming of getting hit by stuff…?

Unless… the flash of scenery became clear to me, and I realized that it was the mirror maze.

"I-I think I was hit last night." I said, unsure. "I think it's why I was bleeding…" But to have it be so delayed…

But…

.

_When I woke up, my head was throbbing. Was the nightmare that bad? Shaking my head, I stood up, almost falling back down._

.

I was dizzy when I woke up…

"I was definitely hit." I said.

"What?" Veronica asked.

I nodded. "I was half asleep when it happened, and it knocked me out, but I definitely remember it happening now."

"How does that relate to this case?" Ashton asked.

"Well, I'm still standing…" I said. So what was the point of hitting me? "I don't even know who hit me or with what."

Jeremy pulled out the umbrella from earlier. "Then let's hit you with random things until you remember."

"Let's… not do that." I shook my head. But my eyes drifted towards the umbrella. And the longer I looked at it, the more I was certain… "Actually… I think it was the umbrella?"

"Why do you say that like a question?" Nila tilted her head.

"If you were hit by an umbrella…" Jared trailed off.

"It's likely that it was Denise herself…" Rial finished the sentence.

Now that I think of it. In my dream, I was standing up when someone was standing over me. So reality blended into my dreams…

Did that happen again. I wonder if I can find something that happens that doesn't add up…

… At one point I heard a girl shout and another one talk. Which prompted me to check my house. But… there was only one girl there, my mother. And I know for a fact she wasn't either. Nor do I think Denise was any of them… but, I can't tell who it was…

.

_Until, I heard a woman screaming. Her voice, coming from behind me. And then, I heard another voice, this time another girl._

"_W-why did you do that? Y-you should not have done that!" The voice said._

.

Maybe I could identify who was talking based on what they said…

…!

…

Is it her…?

"Nila?" I asked, looking at her.

She tilted her head. "Yes?"

"You were there, weren't you." I asked her. "Where I was sleeping…"

She was silent for a few seconds. "I was not."

_Was not_? She has a tendency of not using the contractions of words… Instead using them as two words. I'm sure it was her that was there.

"I know this sounds bad…" I trailed off. "But I heard two voices. One who let out a scream of shock, it seems. I don't think that was Denise. And then one who spoke. The way the girl spoke was just like Nila."

She remained silent for a bit. "Why are you relying on a dream?"

"Because it's all we have to work on…" I said.

Mindy glared at me. "Are you accusing Nila of the murder?"

Am I accusing her?

.

"No…" I said. "There's still the other voice I haven't figured out yet. Nila seemed to be reacting to something that happened. It could have been me getting hit, but I'm not so sure."

"Reacting to someone dying, maybe?" Jeremy suggested.

"N-no. I was not there. I swear!" Nila said.

Rial glared at her. "If she was there, and reacted to it. Does that mean she knows who the killer is? And if so, you refuse to tell us? I hope I didn't make a mistake."

"N-no, you did not." I didn't know what they were talking about. She shook her head. "You are basing this all on a dream."

"I find it strange…" I said, thinking.

"What is that? "Nila asked, seemingly hating what my answer would be before I even said it.

I looked over at her. "You are almost always the first one up. It's been that way for a while. You tend to go roaming around. How come, when it came to this morning. You showed up with the rest of the group."

"Umm…" The soldier looked at the ground, not wanting to look at anyone. "The hunger was affecting me, so I was more tired."

Jeremy crossed his arms. He wasn't buying. "But, I would think as the Ultimate Soldier, you could do days without eating."

"Well… yes…" She trailed off. "But even I have my limits!"

She did wolf down the bread she had received.

"Do is really matter if she was there or not." Rial asked, trying to get things moving. "We now know something. The murder could have taken place inside the mirror maze.

Nila simply gasped. "N-no, I swear it did not."

It seems she won't budge on this.

"But there is nothing in the mirror maze proving that a murder took place there. Not a single trace of blood was there." The soldier said. "As opposed to all the blood found at the murder scene."

I was going to have to prove that it couldn't have possibly happened there. But, what is her goal? Why is she even doing this if she isn't the killer?

"The scene matches up with all the info." Nila said. "We have what caused the head trauma, and the murder weapon."

Jeremy shook his head with a smile. "That's all just speculation. We don't know for a fact if any of that is what actually was used on Denise."

"W-what?" The soldier asked, worried. "If you have a way to prove it, then show me."

There has to be something at the scene that just doesn't add up with what we have…

.

"The footprints…" I finally said.

"Huh?" She was confused.

I nodded to myself. "The footprints are wrong."

"Wrong according to what?" Miranda asked.

.

"To Denise's injuries." I answered. "If we were to believe that those footprints were caused by her being hit by the wooden post, then it should also be the way she was facing. If that was the case, she would have an injury on the left side of her head. Not the right."

Jeremy nodded. "I realized that earlier and found it odd, but I chalked it up to still being hungry."

"How would they make a mistake like that?" Miranda asked.

Yeah, that's a hard mistake to make… "But, the lack of food didn't help."

Rial shook her head. "Still, even with the lack of food, it seems like a pretty hard thing to mistake. Especially if you were trying to make it look like the real scene of the crime."

"Maybe they confused it with something else." Miranda suggested.

Confused it with something else?

.

That's right! "My own injury." My hand went over to rub the left of my head. "The wooden pole matches up with my own injury. So maybe while thinking of what to do, they simply thought are injuries were opposite of what they actually were."

"That still leaves the question of what left the footprints." Jeremy said.

"Shoes, obviously." Ashton said, sounding proud.

"I doubt it would have left a mark like that if only the shoes would have been there." Veronica said, thinking.

"But that would have crushed their foot!" Miranda said.

It's true, it would have injured their foot, but…

.

"Nila, once again, I need to point the attention to you." I said.

She frowned. "Please stop doing that."

"If I remember correctly, you had shoes that have a layer of steel covering your toes. Steel toes, I guess." I said. "I'm sure you would have been fine if the post fell on your feet."

The soldier shook her head. "But that was still a large fall, it wouldn't have protected me from it had I put my feet there."

You're right… unless something slowed it's fall…

.

"It's possible the carousel itself helped with that." I mentioned.

"How would it do that?" Ashton asked.

I glanced over at him. "Well, the post would have hit the roof, which would have probably slowed it down enough. Remember, it's what broke one of the horses."

"What about the murder weapon?" Nila asked.

Jeremy chuckled at that. "I thought you'd never ask. I've got this one, Gregory." Way to not let me solve things. "The broken part of the metal pole couldn't have been the murder weapon."

"W-why?" She asked.

He let out another chuckle. "It's simple really, the injury doesn't match. The broken part of the metal pole was too large for the injury that it left. We're looking for a very thin weapon. Like a skewer!"

"You were also the one who was at the horse during the investigation." I brought up.

She simply looked at the ground, frowning.

"That seems to sum up Nila's involvement pretty well." Jared said. "If the murder truly did happen in the mirror maze. It would have been impossible for one person to do all of this. So, there had to be two people."

Veronica nodded. "That would explain why Gregory and I activated the body discovery announcement despite only being two people."

She didn't even want to look at any of us at the moment.

"Nila, why are you doing this?" I asked her. If she would just tell us who did it, it would be so easy.

She slowly looked up at me. "The same reason I do not participate in trials much." She took a deep breath. "I know the identity of the killer, so their fate rests in my hands. If I reveal who they are, would it not be the same as killing them?"

The same… as killing them…?

Scenes flashed through my mind…

.

"_The fabric must have belonged to someone else." I said._

"_And who is that?" Mason crossed his arms._

_I looked at the culprit. "Richard…"_

_He looked at me with disdain. "What are you talking about?"_

.

_Wait… maybe not blind… but… Not having the best vision…_

"_Katrine?" I asked. "You lost one of your contact lenses in the explosion, didn't you?"_

"_Yeah? What about it?" She frowned slightly._

.

_The voice…? Right, we heard Matthew speak. How… how did we hear him speak…? Or more so, who could have replicated the voice?_

…_!_

"_Mason?" I asked.  
_"_Yeah? I'm Mason." He replied._

"_You could do that." I said._

_He tilted his head. "Do what?"_

"_You've done it before, imitating someone." I said._

.

… I accused every one of them. The same as killing them… It's like I condemned them to death…

For some reason I felt like crying. But… now wasn't the time…

"I… do not want to be responsible for their death…" Nila frowned… "I do not want to ever be responsible for someone's death in my lifetime ever again."

That's right, she is the Ultimate Soldier, so they probably took a lot of lives…

But still, I didn't know what to say… she brought up a good point. Technically, in this case, our words were the weapons. Able to kill…

"Gregory?" Veronica asked. "Are you alright?"

I slowly nodded. "Yeah… I'm fine." Just dealing with a moral dilemma…

"And if we vote for the wrong person?" Jeremy asked Nila.

"I…" She started to say. "I will not let that happen either. I am not preventing you from proving who the killer is… I am just saying I abstain from helping."

Then it looks like we have to continue this trial…

"Say…" Ashton spoke up. "If the wooden post isn't what gave blunt force head trauma to Denise, then what did?"

Good question… but now that I think about it. I can only think of one thing…

.

"The metal bar" I said. "We found it in the trash can near the wooden post. It had a small amount of blood on it. "And it seems like you wouldn't need to swing it too hard to hurt someone badly."

"Where do you think the killer could have gotten it" Ashton asked.

I thought for a moment. "I don't know the exact answer, but I know someone who might…"

.

"Rial…" I looked at her. "You seemed to know what this metal bar is. Like you had lost it."

She glanced away. "I might have known something about it. I'm the one who found it after all… Might as well admit to that much."

So she did have this…

"What were you doing with it?" Miranda asked.

Rial sent her a look. "Isn't it obvious…?"

.

"You were planning on killing someone, weren't you?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

She nodded. " I was willing to give up my own life, and someone else's, to end this motive."

"Who were you going to kill?" Miranda asked, concerned.

The snipper remained silent for a bit. "I don't need to admit that."

"Say who you were going to kill!" Ashton shouted.

Rial glanced at him. "Do you really want to know?"

He shook his head. "No, not really."

"It would probably help us if you did." Jeremy said.

Rial crossed her arms. "Well, I had two options from who I could see. Veronica and Ashton. So I simply went for the less useful person."

"So in other words, Ashton." Mindy smirked.

"Hey, why has everyone been picking on me this trial!" Ashton mumbled, sadly. It was true, a lot of people were doing that.

"But you never were able to kill him." I asked.

She shook her head. "I must have kicked the metal bar away in my sleep."

"So you were planning to beat me to death?" Ashton asked.

The sniper shook her head. "No, that was to wake you up. I would have at least have let you know about your fate."

"And was it relevant with you having it?" Jared asked.

Rial looked at him. "Well, it couldn't have rolled that far. So whoever had it, had to have passed by it on the way to where Gregory was."

"Do you know where you were sleeping?" Jeremy asked.

She shook her head. "Not the exact spot, no… But I know it was on the left of the building from the entrance."

He crossed his arms with a sigh. "I was afraid of that. But, I guess I can mention why Veronica and I choose that place for everyone to sleep. Although, you all probably noticed that you could see two people in the distance. At first, you would think it was some mirror trick, but in reality, there were no mirrors between you and that person."

"There wasn't?" Ashton asked.

The surfer shook his head. "Nope! It looked like that because the ground and ceiling were. Which gave it that endless void look. It was like that so we could all keep an eye on each other while being ways apart." He looked around at all of us. "And the killer tried to hide the fact."

Jared looked at Jeremy. "Could I have some clarifications on the set up of the mirror maze?"

He nodded. "The mirror maze is in the shape of a decagram. Which, in geometry, is a ten point star."

Veronica shook her head. "Your knowledge still astounds me. How can one know so much, while also knowing so little?"

"It's my second talent. The Ultimate Random Trivia Knower." Jeremy smiled, before frowning. "It doesn't really roll off the tongue."

"Get on with it." Rial said.

The surfer nodded. "Some people draw a five pointed star without following the shape of it." He was having a hard time explaining this, almost like the writer. "Like instead of going from point 1 to point 2, they'd go straight to point 3, and then to point 5, and then point 2, then point 4, and back to point 1. Basically it leaves a pentagon in the middle. The same is with the mirror maze. There's hallways right outside it that does the same thing. A better way to visualize this one is that it skips two people when it makes a line. That was, each person is reached once."

"Who knew you were bad at explaining things." Veronica said. "And that's why I drew a map."

Jeremy glanced at her. "Haha… I hate my life."

She showed everyone a picture. ((That you could find by searching up "Decagram in Geometry."))

"Anyways…" Jeremy continued. "The point is, that someone might have seen what happened to Gregory and went to go stop it."

"Which means…" Jared looked down. "It's one of the people who saw Gregory from where they were sleeping!"

I nodded, understanding why the killer had to hide their location. "For a fact, I know Denise was one of them, since that's probably why she came to me."

The second one was…

.

"It was… Mindy." I said, looking over at her.

"W-what?" Mindy quickly said. "Hey, I didn't have anything to do with this."

"What side did you see Mindy on?" Rial asked, quickly.

I thought back for a bit. "I'm sure she was on the left."

Rial nodded. "Then, she could have picked up the metal bar on the way to where you were sleeping."

"Hey, wait a second." She quickly said. "I didn't kill anyone."

"Yeah!" Nila quickly said. "It was not her!"

Jared shook his head. "We all know you are trying to protect the killer, so you protecting Mindy is nothing but confirmation!"

"P-please. It is not her!" She repeated.

Mindy seemed to be mad now. "Why would I even kill in the first place? Sounds like the killer was trying to save Gregory."

Ouch. "Well, maybe you wanted to prevent a murder?"

"Prevent a murder by murdering? Yeah, real smart." She glared at me.

Double ouch.

"It's also possible that Nila saw Mindy and went over to investigate, which means that it's even more likely." Jared said.

Nila shook her head in confusion. "B-but the two people I was looking at-" She stopped herself.

She stopped herself? Does that mean she didn't see Mindy at all? "What if we are going after the wrong person?"

"Because you are." Mindy said coldly. "Anyone with a brain can see that."

Triple ouch.

"But what if Nila had seen the killer, but the killer was looking at Denise?" I suggested. "So they saw Denise get up to go do something and they got curious."

"How would they know to go check where you were sleeping?" Rial asked.

I thought for a moment. "Maybe, they weren't going to where I was sleeping… But had another place in mind?" Right… if the killer knew how the mirror maze worked out…

.

"They were probably trying to leave the place… Thinking Denise was probably doing the same. They would have walked down one of the paths." I said, pointing to the map. "If we assume Nila saw her. Then the killer must have walked down the path towards Nila, which they might have run into the metal bar and picked it up. Then, after a bit, they turned down the path to where I was sleeping and might have seen the scene." I explained, poorly. "They probably knew the shortest route to the entrance that didn't involve going around the entire building."

Veronica nodded. "That seems like the shortest path to go there."

Jeremy jumped into the conversation. "And, I was one of the people who were looking at Nila. It's not that hard to believe that Nila was looking at the killer. It would have given her much more time to realize the killer was going somewhere. Based on where Gregory was, Nila would have had only two opportunities to see Mindy, and it's blink and you'll miss it."

"Enough! Enough!" Nila shouted. It seems we were getting closer to the truth… as much as it pained me, because we were one step closer to getting another one of us killed…

Although, one thing still bothered me… Jeremy said that he saw Nila, but he never specified who the other person was. "Jeremy, what's stopping us from assuming it was you?"

"Hmm…" He looked over at me.

"Something at the crime scene has been bothering me…" I said, thinking.

.

"The teddy bear." I finally said. "How did it get there? You said all the teddy bears at the carnival games were removed after the motive was set in place."

He nodded. "They were."

Then…" What about the one that was blocking the cracked mirror?"

The surfer thought long and hard on this one. "Perchance it's the one I won before?"

He did win one… And what he said he'd do with it…

.

_He was silent again for a bit. "Good question. I'll probably just give it to someone."_

"_LIke who?" I asked._

_He was silent for a third time. "I'll probably just leave it in a room and let someone pick it up."_

.

"You said you'd just leave it in a room, right?" I asked. "Where did you leave it?"

"It wasn't in the mirror maze, if that's what you were implying." Jeremy said.

It wasn't there? That means the killer had it before they killed. "Then where was it?"

"Well, I kinda left it in Denise's Ultimate Attraction." He chuckled. "I thought it would fit in nicely."

That… doesn't really help at all, anyone could have gone there and got it. But maybe we are thinking of this backwards. We shouldn't focus on who took the bear, but maybe on why…

Why would someone even want the bear?

.

"Well, maybe the bear was taken because it could be used as a pillow." I said. "After all, you went to go look for them at the games section."

"They did look comfy." Veronica said. They probably would have been better than the pillows we made." She frowned slightly, knowing if Denise was still here, she'd be pretty mad about that line.

I nodded. "And, after grabbing the teddy bear, they probably threw out their… pillow." I suddenly realized, what I brought up at the start of the trial, finally made its way back… "The killer threw out their pillow as soon as they got the bear…" I was turned away from this point so early on, if only we had pursued it. "If we can find the room of the person with the missing pillow, we might just find the killer."

I need to take a look at the map to figure out where everyone was.

The only people I don't know are: Ashton, Jared, Jeremy, Miranda, Rial, and Veronica.

If we go clockwise, with me as number 1, then Nila would be at 2, Mindy would be at 4, the killer would be at 5, and Denise would be at 8.

.

Rial would make sense being at 3, since he said he was on the left side. And, if Jeremy isn't the killer, he'd have to be at 9 since he can see Nila. Which only leaves Ashton, Jared, Miranda, and Veronica left…

.

I don't know exactly where Veronica and Ashton are, but since Rial saw them, it couldn't be any of them, which leaves us with Jared and Miranda…

.

… I… I numbered it down. I think I can know who did it… but… but why can't I say it? What's holding me back? I know it's her, I heard a girl's scream, which takes out Jared.

.

_Nila slowly looked up at me. "The same reason I do not participate in trials much." She took a deep breath. "I know the identity of the killer, so their fate rests in my hands. If I reveal who they are, would it not be the same as killing them?"_

.

If I reveal who they are, I would be killing them…

Another scene flash into my head…

.

"_Eat, dammit!" Veronica stuck bread in my mouth. "You passed out because of the blood and because you refused to eat. You even gave your bread to Ashton." She shook her head. She seemed mad, in a very caring sort of way._

_I ate the bread slowly before sitting up. "I don't know why I was bleeding…" She helped me get back on my feet. "Wait, did Monokuma give more bread out?"_

_She shook her head. "Actually, Miranda offered the rest of hers."_

.

If she truly did kill Denise, then that means she saved me twice… And here I was, going to call her out…

"Gregory, do you know who it is?" Veronica asked me.

I glanced away, not saying it would just cause more harm. I looked over at Miranda, who seemed to be looking off to the side. "Miranda…" I mumbled.

It hadn't registered that I said her name yet. She was still looking away.

"Miranda." I repeated again.

There was some silence before she finally looked over at me. "H-huh?" She seemed shocked. "Are you saying I did it?" She shook her head several times. "I would never be able to."

I figured she wouldn't be able to admit it… but… now that I think back to it. "The bear must have been picked up by someone who knew it was at Denise lab, and it must have been placed there before the motive. Which means someone must have seen it there when we went to go pick up clothes to make stuff. The group who went was Denise, me…" I trailed off. "And you. We actually left you there because you had to pick up all the clothes you dropped. I think besides that moment, there wasn't any reason to go there after that."

"That can't be all the reason you suspect me."

I shook my head. "That's not it. You made a comment the other day during the morning."

.

_Miranda stretched her arms and yawned. "I think I got used to the pillows, I slept way better this time."_

.

"And I doubt you got used to the pillows, I think that was the day after you replaced it." I said.

"But, I could have gotten used to it." She tried to defend herself.

Rial glanced away. "They were pretty bad."

"Mine had a hole in it." Ashton said.

"The pillow was fine for me." Nila said.

I shook my head. "But I'm sure I'm right. It pains me… but so far, all the evidence points to you."

"The weapon!" Nila said. "What about the weapon?"

The weapon? Right… we never did find the weapon… And we never thought of it after discounting the broken horse…

"That's right, if you think I'm the killer, I would have brought the weapon, but I had no reason to bring one." Miranda said.

No reason to bring one? Did she have a reason to bring the murder weapon?

.

I shook my head. "You wouldn't have had a reason. You were heading towards the exit to see where Denise was going. The only thing you picked up was a metal bar, which you probably picked up because you were scared."

"Then how did the weapon get there?" Nila asked.

How did the weapon get there?

.

"Denise brought it." I said. "She came to kill me, so it's likely she of course brought the weapon. I doubt hitting me over the head with an umbrella would do much."

"It knocked you out and gave you a headache." Ashton said. "Not to mention you bled from it a bit.

Thanks. "But yeah, you had no reason to bring the murder weapon. You brought a weapon, but that was probably aimed for self defense."

"Then what did she bring?" Miranda asked me. "What was the murder weapon?"

The murder weapon…? If I put everything I've learned these past few days then…

.

"The umbrella." I eventually said.

"Ah, yeah, that makes se- WHAT?" Ashton yelled out. "The umbrella itself was the weapon?"

I nodded, thinking back to this morning. "It was the only thing I saw her carrying in the small moment of consciousness I had." I looked at him. "Not just that, but there was a comment she made when she first got the umbrella."

.

_And then, just as I thought, I saw her standing there. Denise was twirling an umbrella in her hands, examining it._

"_Anything interesting about it?" I asked._

_She remained silent for a few more seconds. "Well, apparently there is something special about it." She placed it down on the table. "But it looks like a simple umbrella to me."_

.

"If anything, I think she found out what was special about it." I smirked. "Jeremy, if you will."

The surfer took out the umbrella. "What shall you have me do?"

"Hold the umbrella in place, but, pull out the handle…"

He did as I said, and sure enough, it started to be removed. And, a thin piece of metal could be seen, as well as some blood. "Oh hey, you were right." He went silent for a bit. "I'm holding the murder weapon." He didn't seem bothered.

"So, I think that's the last mystery we have unsolved, isn't it?" I looked over at Miranda. "Now, I'll say the entire murder from the beginning…

.

"Act 1: Some of the stuff involved in the killing happened a few days before the actual killing. That includes Jeremy winning a giant bear in a carnival game, and placing it in the Ultimate Designer Attraction, as well as Denise finding a new umbrella. That umbrella, would soon become the murder weapon.

Act 2: Then, Jeremy and Veronica decided the best place to sleep would be the Mirror Maze. They had noticed something rather interesting about the outer segments of the maze. And with that, they realized the full shape of it. It was a ten pointed star. Which allowed us all to keep an eye out on two people each. The hope was that there would be a chance to see the murder, if it occured.

.

Act 3: After a few days have passed, a couple of people had decided to try and kill. Denise must have found out the trick to the umbrella, as she was setting herself up to murder someone… As for the other person, Rial had nabbed a metal bar, and she was getting ready to murder Ashton.

.

Act 4: Denise woke up early in the morning, walking over to where I slept, as I was her target. She picked probably because I was one of the people she saw. The other person who she could see was her killer. However, what she didn't know was that the culprit was still up. When she left to come to me, the killer assumed that they had gone to leave the building, and they went to go check up on them.

.

Act 5: On their way there, they found a metal bar that belonged to Rial. She must have kicked it away in her sleep. Fearing being out alone at night, the killer picked it up for self defense. What they didn't know was that Nila was up early, like she always is. She noticed the killer walking. Soon, they stopped to turn down the hallway towards the entrance, however…

.

Act 6: They saw Denise standing over me holding the umbrella. Trying to go see what was going on, they ran over there with Nila behind me. Before they got there, Denise hit me in the head with the umbrella. Then, she must have started taking out her weapon from it. By that time, the culprit had made its way to us. And, hit Denise in the head. Then they picked up the weapon and stabbed Denise in the heart. Since it wasn't that big of an area, Denise must have been knocked into a mirror, and the weapon going through her must have cracked the mirror behind her.

.

Act 7: Realizing they just took a life, they screamed in shock. I managed to hear that, as well as Nila talking. Nila decided she was going to help the killer hide the truth of the murder. The culprit got the teddy bear they had been using for a pillow in an attempt to cover the crack in the mirror. Then, they moved the body over to the carousel.

.

Act 8: The whole carousel set up was made to have us think the killing happened there. Nila stood in the way of the wooden post, and the killer was the one who grabbed the saw and started to saw away at the post. Soon, it fell, breaking the stop of the carousel, as well as part of the horse. This would lead them to using the fake murder weapon. Not to mention it left footprints to show someone had been standing there. Unfortunately for the killer, they were facing the wrong way.

.

Act 9: Finally, they moved Denise's body on the carousel, and placed the murder weapon on her. They covered the metal pole with blood to make us believe it was the murder weapon. Not just that, but they placed blood on the wooden post. Finally, with everything else done, they discarded the saw, and metal bar, which they hid under the killer's pillow.

.

This a crime that could have only been committed by you, Miranda Mele, the Ultimate Violinist!"

.

She was just staring at the ground with a frown. "Yeah, that's everything." Seems like she had just given up.

And now I felt bad again…

Jared shook his head. "So you killed Denise, why?"

"Well… I…" She was having a hard time talking. "It was a spur of the moment… I didn't mean for anyone to die… That didn't work out well"

"Spur of the moment… combined with no food…" The officer said, nodding.

"Not just that." Jeremy said. "But she was probably fueled by adrenaline at that moment."

Miranda was quiet for a bit, looking away. "When I saw Gregory get hit, my instinct was to hit her with whatever I had, then, I grabbed the handle of the umbrella. I didn't know that there was a weapon there, but it slipped out. My plan was to use the umbrella to pin her against the wall, opening it… That's when I saw the blood trickling down… I screamed." It looks like she was ready to cry. "I didn't want anyone to die, and yet, it turned out like this." Then she started to cry.

"I… I am sorry…" Nila looked away.

She shook her head. "Don't be… this is my fault, and I would have come out with the truth anyways. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let more people die because of me."

I'm sorry… That I had to accuse you…

"But… at least I got to live a little longer, thanks to you, Nila." Miranda smiled sweetly. "My plan was just to cry all night and be discovered when Gregory woke up. I had given up."

"A-any time…" She said, before looking away with a frown.

The violinist looked down at the ground. "You know… now that everyone knows it's me… all the guilt I've had is gone…" She looked up with tears in her eyes. "Does that make me a horrible person, to no longer feel guilty?"

Jared shook his head. "That doesn't make you a horrible person…"

"You saved me after all, and we barely ever talked…" I said, looking at her. Then, my eyes glanced over to the side. "T-thank you…" I smiled warmly. But, there was a lot of pain behind the smile. I don't think I could survive another trial.

"Is the goodbyes all done?" Monokuma asked.

Miranda nodded, with a small smile. "I… I think I'm ready…"

"I've prepared a very special punishment for Miranda Mele, the Ultimate Violinist!"

"It's been fun knowing all of you." She said with a sad smile.

"Let's give it everything we've got!" The bear continued.

Miranda looked at the ground, as a single tear when down her cheek,

"IT'S... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"

**Miranda Mele has been found guilty! Time for punishment.**

.

Miranda found herself on the strings of a violin. The violin was several times her size and she was able to stand on the cord without losing balance. She glanced down at her hands and realised she was holding her own violin. Then, she glanced up as a screen lit up, showing Monokuma's face. He laughed at her as the screen was replaced with notes. Above it was a warning. "Play or else." And Miranda didn't want to find out what the or else was. With a small sigh, she played the first note. As she did that, something flew past her. She slowly glanced over at it and realized it was the bow for the violin, playing the note she just played. She would need to play and avoid the notes she is playing. A loud noise could be heard and she glanced at the screen. She had a strike, two more and she would probably die. She took a deep breath as she started to play the notes again, making sure to avoid the other bow as it played the same song. A few times she almost stepped at the wrong place. But she was fine in the end. Next song. This one seemed to be faster paced with more notes. She started playing this one, almost messing up a few times. However, the next note she was going to play would have the bow go right through her, in a panic, she played a wrong note. Another buzzing noise could be heard as she got a second strike. One more and it's over. She gripped her bow tightly as she started to play again. She was being much quicker with her leg movements. But even then, it wasn't enough. She misstepped and her foot got sliced by the bow. She winced in pain, but she still had to keep moving. Although her movement had decreased from the pain. Another cut, this one on the arm. And then one on the leg. She got multiple more cuts. She was bleeding excessively. Until it was too much and she missed the next note. A third loud buzzing noise could be heard, followed by silence. Miranda stood still, looking around worried. It was an eerie silence. But then, the screeching of the violin continued quickly. Miranda tried to avoid the bow. but it was too quick and unpredictable. She didn't last long as her blood drenched the violin. There wasn't much left of her as she had been cut down several times.

.

We all stood and watched, we had gotten used to the fact we could do nothing. It hurt, but it was the truth. I look amongst ourselves. There were only eight people left. We had started with seventeen, and now, nine people are dead. I could feel a tear rolling down my cheek. How long would this go on for? How many of us had to die?

Soon, we all made it back to the elevator.

I could already tell my dreams tonight would be awful.

"At least…" Veronica spoke up, looking at me. "At least you are still alive." She smiled sadly.

Yeah… there was that to be happy about. But with everything else that happened, there was just no time to be happy.


	10. Chapter 5: Hopeless Future-Daily Life

Why… Why did this keep happening…? We keep losing friends the longer we stay here. We started off as a group of seventeen, but now we've dwindled down to only eight people left. How much more blood must be shed before Monokuma has had enough?

Those are the thoughts that crossed my mind as I slowly fell asleep.

"_Who can you trust?"_

A voice said in my head. The voice… was familiar. I knew I had to be dreaming right now, because, well, I wasn't crazy.

"_If you couldn't even trust me, you can never trust anyone again…"_

Was that…? No… Forget about him…

"_How can you know the people close to you right now aren't hiding any secrets?"_

It's been years. Why has this only now started to resurface… I haven't seen him since he disappeared. That was seven years ago and he hasn't shown up since then. He's legally dead right now…

"_Do I still haunt you?"_

He appeared before in my dream. "Get away from me…"

"_That's no way to treat your brother…" _He smirked at me. His voice had been echoing the whole time. "_I've been nothing but nice to you…"_

Something still feels off about these dreams… Why have they started now? The longer I stay here, the more unpleasant they become.

"_Not going to answer me?"_ He scuffed, turning around. "_Fine by me…"_ He started to walk away. "_But when everyone betrays you, don't act surprised…"_

When everyone… betrays me…? I looked around and quickly noticed familiar people standing around me, but before my eyes could even focus…

I woke up again.

.

I placed my hand on my head. Another bad dream… I've been having a lot of these lately, it's almost unnatural…

I got out of bed and glanced over at the time. Still an hour before the morning Monokuma announcement… But, I was up now, so I might as well stay up… I went over to the door and opened to find someone there who seemed like they were about to knock on my door.

"O-oh!" The girl said. It was Nila. She stepped back so I could walk out of my room.

I took a step out and closed the door. "What are you doing here?" I asked, looking over at her.

She blushed faintly, probably out of embarrassment. "W-well, you have been having nightmares for a bit, so I thought I would check up on you." She smiled sweetly.

I looked at her for a few seconds before shaking my head. "You didn't need to do that, they don't bother me that much."

She held her hands together tightly. "A-are you sure?" She had a pretty worried expression on her face. "Because when I have nightmares… they are horrible."

I thought for a moment. "Have you had any recently, while you were here?"

Nila nodded. "Almost all the time, actually."

Almost all the time? Same as me… I shook my head at the thought. "Well, what are your nightmares about?"

She froze up for a few seconds before frowning, glancing away. "I would rather not have to tell you…"

I frown slightly, given her talent, it probably had something to do with it. "How about this, I tell you mine, and then you tell me yours?" I smiled.

Nila looked at me for a few seconds before nodding. "That sounds fair."

"Then let's go for a walk while we do that…" I said, starting to lead the way.

We had walked a bit before I finally spoke up. "It was about my brother again…"

"Your brother? I did not know you had one…" She replied.

I nodded. "Well, I do, but I don't like talking about him."

Nila looked at me with shock. "How come? I have a sibling, and I would do anything for them!"

I shook my head. "It's not that simple, he… he's a monster that couldn't be stopped."

At the word monster, she seemed to frown and look away. "O-oh… then that is understandable. Who would like a monster?"

I sense some animosity from those words of hers. "Is everything alright?" I asked.

She nodded with a smile on her face again. "Yes, everything is fine. What did your brother do?"

I frowned slightly. What did he do, huh? Well… a lot… "Well, let's just say he wasn't a good man. He burnt down my home and…" I trailed off, the images of that fateful day flashing in my head.

"T-that is awful." Nila covered her mouth in shock. "Was he caught?"

I frowned even more at that. "No, he was never caught, and, as of now, he's been missing for seven years." Legally dead. But I know he's out there. He wouldn't just go and get himself killed like that.

"Burning…" Nila mumbled to herself. "Reminds me of my father…"

"Your father… burned stuff…?" I asked her.

"Ah!" She glanced over at me. Seems she temporarily forgot I was there. "No… well… yes…" She frowned. "He burnt down the forest near where I lived… my sister and I almost died there…"

I remained silent for a bit as we walked. "Your father… almost got you killed…?"

Nila nodded slowly. "Yes, my sister told me that when I finally woke up…"

"Is that what you have nightmares about?" I asked her.

"Only sometimes, other times, they are nightmares from before…" She said sadly.

Before…? She must be referring to when she was a soldier. "Oh, back when you were ov-"

Nila frowned deeply. "I do not want to talk about it." She then stopped walking. "Gregory…" She said softly.

I stopped walking, turning to look at her. "Yes?"

She looked beyond me. "Why do you keep coming here?"

Not knowing what she was talking about, I turned to look at where we had walked. When, finally, I realized I walked back over to the graveyard. "I… I don't know…" I looked around and realized two new gravestones were added. Why did Monokuma do this… what merit was there to it? Unless one of us added these in…

"Back in the trial…" I said. "Were you going to tell us who the killer was if we were ever about to vote for the wrong person?"

Nila remained silent for a few seconds. It was a hard question. "Yes… I did not want anyone else to die, but, I am aware that Miranda had to if everyone else was going to live. That is just… not something that seems easy to go through. I felt bad for her, especially since I witnessed it. Her life was basically in my hands."

I nodded slowly. "I can understand, I ended up being the reason so many other people were found out."

Nila shook her head. "Do not blame yourself. It is a cruel game we are in, but you did the right thing… Everyone else is still alive right now."

It was my turn to remain silent for a few seconds. "But at what cost? More people still ended up dying…"

"Does that really matter?" She looked at me. "Yes, some of them ended up dying anyways, however, you still granted them more days to live. You extended their life…"

I looked at the ground, deep in thought. "Yeah… I guess you're right…"

Soon, footsteps could be heard coming from behind us. We turned our attention to who it was as a flashlight shine on us.

"Oh, you two just came here." It was Jared, who was holding a flashlight. He put it away and walked up to us. "Normally I see you two up but you are normally alone."

Nila smile warmly. "I was worried for Gregory."

"Cute." He commented. He glanced over at the sun that was now rising. "Well, it should be seven soon, so we should head over to the cafeteria to discuss with the others…"

I nodded. "Right, we should probably all go to the new area together…"

Nila smiled brightly. "Maybe my Ultimate Attraction will be there!"

Well, based on how there are only four left to be seen, Ashton, Nila, Veronica… and… Jennifer. Will we finally be able to find out her talent…?

Soon, we made it back to the cafeteria, it was a little after 7 by that point, and five others had already gathered there by that point.

"Oh, there you are, Gregory." Veronica smiled warmly, walking over to me.

I nodded. "Just… another bad dream."

She frowned slightly. "Bad dreams… huh…"

Jeremy was nearby and chuckled. "I haven't had a bad dream since…" And then he just stopped.

… "Since when?" I asked.

He remained silent for a bit. "I don't really know."

Thanks?

Mindy was eating some food. She looked up between bites. "So, am I right to assume we'll be exploring the new area after this?"

That's right, I forgot about that. "Yeah, we probably should. There should be the last four Ultimate Attractions there."

Ashton pumped his fist in the air. "No more bumper cars!"

"In before it's just more bumper cars…" Jeremy crossed his arms.

"What would this new area even be?" Mindy got up to bring her tray of food.

What would it even be? Well, thinking about the four people left, Ashton, Jennifer, Nila, and Veronica, do any of them have a sort of common thread? I can't think of it off the top of my head… "We'll find out when we get there."

Jared nodded. "We should probably eat before that happens. Wouldn't want a repeat of last time."

Oh, sweet food, how you were missed. I gathered some food and sat down at the table.

"Despite waking up to nightmares, the bright people around me always cheer me up." Nila smiled sweetly, taking a bite out of her food.

Always the optimist...

Soon, everyone finished eating and we set out for the new area. The final gate. It seems that this might be the final area…

When we finally got to the gate, we were met with rather odd sight.

When we stepped into it, the entire sky changed colours, like it was now night time.

"It appears we are in a dome of sorts…" Rial noted, looking around. "How odd."

Veronica looked around. "A dome, but it looked fine from the outside."

"Perhaps it's part of the illusion…" She crossed her arms.

The area itself looked rather futuristic. The ground was even made of metal and had all sorts of lights.

"Welcome." A rather robotic voice said to us.

"Awww!" Veronica's eyes sparkled as she saw what produced the sound. She knelt down towards a small robot. "It's so cute." She giggled, picking it up.

"Please, do not pick us up." The robot said, void of emotion.

She slowly placed it down, looking around. "I think I'll like this place." She said, innocently.

"Well…" Jared started. "Shall we split off to cover more ground?"

I nodded. "It would probably be for the best. Besides, that's what we normally do, anyways."

After that, we each went our own way. Now… where did I want to go?

The first place I ended up going was near the entrance. It wasn't really a building, if anything, it was simply a simply a pit stop for racing, it would seem. A few tools were on the ground, and, if I had to guess, they were for changing tires. Beyond it, I could see a track that stretched the entire perimeter of the track. On it, there seemed to be room for two cars, but one of them was gone. After a few seconds, a loud sound could be heard followed by screeching as a car came to a halt.

Once the doors opened, Ashton came out. Or, well, I assumed so. It seemed to his Ultimate Attraction and his clothes, but he was wearing a helmet. Then, he took it off. "I haven't felt so alive in forever!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. He then flashed a thumbs up. "You should join me one of these times!"

I shook my head. "No thanks, I don't think I could handle going that fast…"

Ashton was silent for a few seconds before smiling. "Fine by me, not everyone is cut out for this life."

"So, anything of interest while you were driving?" I asked him.

He thought for a few moments before nodding. "Yup, I saw a few things, since the track goes around the entire area." That's what I thought. "I saw four more buildings, at least… Maybe one more, not sure if you'd call it a building…"

"That's quite a lot of buildings…" I said. If that's the case, everyone probably went alone, and I won't find people bunched together. "Are you going to explore some more?"

He jumped back into his car. "I'll explore the track, if that's what you are asking!"

I let out a sigh. Nevermind… And with that, I left…

I wandered for a bit before I happened upon another building. This one kinda looked like… what was the word for it, barrack? Well, it did have some barb wire around the building. And this was one of the only places here that didn't have metal as the terrain. Instead, it seemed to just be sand. I had a feeling what this building was, but, to confirm my theory, I decided to enter it anyways.

Who I thought I'd see was exactly who I saw. Nila was looking around the place, seemingly reminiscing about the past. Although, I noted the frown on her face.

"This is my Ultimate Attraction… I take it…" She said sadly.

I slowly nodded. "It seems that way."

She shook her head. "Oh, how I wish I could forget most of this. I am not a soldier…" She walked over to one of the picture frames, and you could see a younger Nila in there. She seemed to be staring at the boy next to her. "It is no wonder they sent me home, despite still being able to fight." She went over to one of the bunk beds and lied down. "Although, the beds are something I miss…" She slowly closed her eyes.

"Don't fall asleep on me." I said with a small smile.

Nila slowly opened her eyes, getting up. "I wonder what my life would be if I was still there."

Well, you wouldn't be trapped in a killing game, for one… "So, is the place just a barrack?"

"Hmm, there is an area for drills, outside. But I do not think I will use them." She held her hands together. "Have you checked anywhere else out?"

"Just where Ashton had gone, he's currently racing around the area…" I told her.

Nila clasped her hands together. "Oh, that sounds wonderful, I want to race around the area."

… "Can you drive?" I felt like I already knew the answer to that.

"Nope." She said pretty quickly.

As I thought, "I wouldn't recommend it. You might get in an accident."

She pouted slightly. "Oh… alright…"

Don't make me feel bad now. "Anyways, I'll go look around elsewhere."

She waved goodbye with a smile on her face.

I then left the building. Her UA felt rather weird in the future area, but maybe it was because soldiers fight for the future? Maybe I'm reading too much into this…

The next area I went to was around the center of the area. I could feel a strange sort of aura coming from it. Not to mention several wires made its way towards the center. Is this where everything was powered? A lot of light was emanating from it, almost like a bea .

Someone was standing around the edge.

Jeremy turned to look at me. "Doesn't this give off a weird vibe?" He asked me.

I slowly nodded. "It doesn't feel like we're in the amusement park anymore…" In the center area, several different small robots could be seen performing tasks. Although, I'm not entirely sure on their importance.

"The future is now, huh?" The surfer asked, arms crossed.

"It would seem so…" The robots didn't seem to notice us at all, and I think that was for the better.

"If there's no more areas after this…" Jeremy started to say. "What comes after this?"

I looked at the ground, pondering that thought. "I'm not quite sure… I can't see us just being let go. I kinda just imagined we'd kill each other until there was no one left." As dark as that sounds…

He hummed, thinking. "Maybe that is what will happen…" He turned his back towards the robots. "Well, I'm off." He waved as he left.

I stood there for a few more seconds, looking at the robots. It was a scary thought to ponder. After a few more seconds, I turned around and left. There were a few more places I wanted to check out…

Next area I walked over to was secluded near the back area. It wasn't a building, it was just… an imposing object. A lot of wires ran into it. I couldn't quite tell what it did, however.

"It appears…" Someone said, standing behind me. I turned to look at them, to see Jared was there. "To be…" He paused again. Then he hummed in thought. "An incinerator of sorts…"

"That took a while…" I noted with a small smile.

He crossed his arms. "It doesn't look like a traditional incinerator…" That was true. It did have a strange aura to it. Jared walked over to it and started pressing some random buttons.

Soon, a low humming could be heard, and light would emanate from the small door. He opened the door, and a new blue flame came out. "Interesting…" He nodded to himself.

"Are there any other flame options?" I asked, looking at the command screen.

Jared looked over at it, deep in thought. "I can't see anything yet…" He taped some settings, but nothing got us to where we wanted to go. "I'll need to fiddle with it later…"

Although, having this be in a place with almost only metal feels off for some reason… Maybe I'm putting too much thought into it. I took a look inside the door. The fire definitely felt hotter than it needed to be. It didn't seem to be any normal fire.

Since there wasn't much here, I decided to move onto the next area.

The next building really looked like it belonged in this area. It was made of some of the same metal that covered the floor. The building looked to be divided in two, with the first half being two stories tall, and the second part just being one floor. They each had their own doors to them. I decided to go towards the door on the left, which had two stories.

Upon entering the building, there seemed to be a staircase leading upstairs, as there wasn't much to be seen. Once I reached the top of the stairs, I could see a control panel in front of a pane of glass. There seemed to be a variety of knobs and terms I didn't know.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of someone eating, and I glanced over at them.

Veronica was standing beside me with a bag of chips. "There's a snack corner here." Of course there is.

"Why's that?" I asked.

She walked over to the control and sat down on a chair that had wheels on it. "Well, most shows last for a while. And while there are breaks, I can't miss my cues." She took another chip out of the bag. "So, I normally have snacks set up to keep me occupied." She put the bag aside and started playing around with the settings. Soon, the stage beyond the glass pane lit up.

Veronica then wheeled her chair over to the next control panel, and started playing around with the knobs. Some music started playing, and she was able to adjust it with everything. Then she turned it off. "It's been a while since I actually did a show. Last one I did, I remember dropping a light on someone."

"Aren't… those heavy?" I asked.

She slowly nodded. "It was for a good cause."

I don't think dropping a light on someone is ever a good cause…

"Anyways, I'll stay here, playing around with the settings." Veronica smiled at me.

I nodded at her. "I'll probably take my leave, there's a few other places I want to explore before we head back." Namely, the other half of this building… And, I have yet to find Jennifer's Ultimate Attraction…

Waving goodbye, I left down the stairs, leaving the building. Entering the door all the way on the right, I was greeted with… a sight, to say the least. The room was littered with weapons and equipment. Weapons that would put Rial's room to shame.

Speaking of Rial…

She was standing in front of a wall that had several gadgets on it. She took something out of her shirt and placed it against the wall in a small space. It seemed to fit perfectly. "What's that, you got?" I asked.

Realizing someone was there, she quickly put the small object back in her shirt. "None of your concerns…"

Well, looks like I won't be getting answers anytime soon. I walked over looking around. A lot of these items seemed… foreign. Or more so, like a foreign concept. How many of these actually worked. At one point, I think one of them was just a regular megaphone. But, I didn't want to try it out and see.

"This all seems like experimental stuff." Rial spoke up. "I don't know whose it is. But it can't be good." She walked over to the door. "And there doesn't appear to be anyway to lock this like my place; So I can't keep people out." She walked back over to the gadgets. "It's probably in our best interest if we made sure no one came here." She turned to look at me. "So, I will probably be keeping an eye on this place."

"No objections from me." I nodded. I doubt she'd be killing any of us anytime soon. Well, I doubt any of us would attempt killing each other at this point. Unless Monokuma gives us an even more severe motive…

"Although…" Rial trailed off. "There are signs that someone has already been here… Or, more so, I get a vibe that someone was here. My instincts are normally right…"

Someone might have already been here? Interesting…

Well, this room was giving me the creeps, it was probably best for me to leave now. I left the room and wandered off for a bit.

After a bit, I spotted a building I hadn't been to yet. Getting closer to it, it seemed to be a similar one as the last one. Although, it was bigger. Once I finally got to a close enough distance, I realized it was a school of sorts. But not Hope's Peak. It seemed like a much smaller school than that. I entered the building and made my way down a hall. There were a few classrooms, but the one that caught my attention had the door open. I slowly walked up to it and entered it.

Mindy was standing there, holding a picture frame in her hands. A small frown on her face. I walked over to her. "Is everything alright."

She remained silent for a few seconds. "I'm not sure…" She seemed to be examining the contents of the photo, trouble in her eyes.

"Let me see it…" I said as I walked over to her. Taking a glance at it, I slowly pieced together what was troubling her. It was a picture of us, all of us. Even the ones we had lost. Although we looked younger, but, at the same time, we looked exactly how old we'd thought we'd look. This must have been taking our first year at Hope's Peak. How many years have passed since?

"You haven't realized it yet." Mindy said blankly.

Realize…? "Realize what?" I looked over the picture even more. Nothing struck me as odd, we were all there. Although… Soon, my eyes noticed it. It landed on the teacher's desk and the name tag that was there said Ms Nylon. Nylon, where had I heard that name before…? Then it hit me. That was Jennifer's last name.

A class of seventeen… A girl who's the odd one out. Unknown talent…?

She was… she was our teacher… Wasn't she?

"Realized it now?" Mindy asked, putting the picture frame down. "The first person we lost was our teacher…" Which made this entire building, Jennifer's Ultimate Attraction…

To think our teacher got involved in this too… Why?

"We should probably tell the others about this…" Mindy said as she walked over to the teacher's desk, placing the picture back on it.

I slowly nodded. "We should all be heading back to the cafeteria soon anyways." I covered my mouth slightly. If we don't get trapped again, that is.

After a while, Mindy and I made it back to the cafeteria to see that the others were already there.

"Find anything of interest?" Ashton asked.

"Well…" I trailed off.

Mindy sat down at the table. "We found a school."

"A school?" Jared asked. "Not Hope's Peak, I assume."

She shook her head. "Just a regular old elementary school it seemed. But there was a picture frame."

"Was there a clue in that picture?" Rial asked.

She slowly nodded. "We finally got to figure out what Jennifer's talent was."

Right, she wasn't just a teacher… "She was the Ultimate Teacher it seemed. So she must have gone to Hope Peak before us at one point… But she is also our teacher based on the photo."

"Our… Teacher?" Nila asked, shocked.

I nodded. "Yeah, it would make sense on why we were seventeen people."

Rial crossed her arms, glancing away. "And she would be the extra girl we were looking for."

"So the extra girl isn't the traitor?" Jeremy asked. That's what we had all assumed at first.

"This still doesn't stop our traitor problem." The sniper said. She glanced around at everyone.

Veronica stood up. "We still don't have a way to find out who is the traitor yet."

We don't… which is the troublesome part. But we are running out of people who it could be.

Jared shook his head. "Well, trying to figure out who it is probably won't yield us any results, so, I think we should disperse for the day." He smiled.

I slowly nodded. Maybe some time to think about all of this… I headed back to my room, and stayed there for most of the day, leaving a few times to do stuff like eat. Before I knew it, it was night time.

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.

.

I was standing on a rooftop… I've done this many times after all. It was part of my training to get familiar with layouts of cities. I was staring over the parapet. In a few weeks, I'd have to be here for the real deal. Or was this the real deal? It was hard to tell at this point.

A man stood beside me, watching what I was doing. "Make sure to grip it tightly…"

He did always comment on my grip. Well, last time I almost lose an eye. The target was in sight, and after steadying myself for a few seconds, I took the shot.

When the bullet hit, reality collapsed. I turned towards the man next to me, and he was replaced with a lifeless corpse of himself, covered in blood, as a scene flashed in my mind.

Was this another nightmare?

I've grown so accustomed to them as of late that I wasn't even phased anymore…

But still… I woke up...

It was now the next day…

I had a bad feeling in my gut, as I always do. So I headed back over to the new area. It sucked that the area I wanted to go to was all the way in the back. The walk there was annoying, and the scenery, if you could even call it that, was getting annoying. Soon, I arrived at the large building I had visited the other day. I walked over to the door on the right and entered. The weapons were all still there, not like I thought anyone was stupid enough to take them. Especially if I made a point to check the area every so often. I eventually stopped in front of the empty space from yesterday. The gadget I have definitely came from here, but that means…

"Rial?" A voice said from behind me.

I turned around to look at the source of the voice. I could tell by the voice that it was Veronica, but because of the poor lighting of this building, her face was partially covered in shadows. "Can I help you?"

She remained silent for a few seconds before looking up at me. Now the light was reaching her face. "What are you doing here?" She smiled. But, it was rather offsetting. Then again, I always found fault in everyone.

"Just thought I'd check this place out again. It's odd that it's connected to your Ultimate Attraction." I said, looking around.

She was silent for a few seconds, before she finally spoke up. "I don't know why, it doesn't have anything to do with the room given to me."

I looked at her for a few seconds, thinking of what my next move should be. I reached down my shirt and pulled out the thing I received several days ago. "Is this familiar to you?"

Veronica looked at it, some sense of recognition in her eyes. So she did.

"Where did you get that?" She frowned slightly.

I put it back in my shirt. "It doesn't matter where I got it, just know I've had it before coming here."

Veronica was sending me a small glare of a look. "Then how did you get it?"

I remained silent, glancing away. "I said it doesn't matter." I crossed my arms. "I want to know why you rec-"

"Ladies, no need to argue like this…" Jeremy said, standing a few feet away from us. I hadn't even heard the door open.

I looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. "Right, I'll get my answers eventually."

The surfer walked around the room. "I haven't explored here yet." It was hard to get a read on his emotions half the time, I had my suspicions why, but best to leave them alone for now. "Try not to touch anything, I don't know what half of this stuff does." I looked over at Veronica, who seemed slightly concerned with him walking around.

Suddenly, the door opened again, this time, it was Jared. "Ah, so you all decided to gather here, I saw some people walking towards the same area and decided to investigate myself."

Now this was just getting annoying. I came here alone, and I wanted it to stay that way. "Well, I was just leaving…" I headed towards the exit.

Suddenly, the ground shook violently.

"What the hell?" Jared shouted out as he almost fell down.

Veronica gripped onto one of the tables.

And Jeremy, well he seemed unphased by it.

But, the earthquake was the least of our worries at the moment…

.

.

.

Earlier…

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.

.

I woke up like usual and started getting ready to head out. It was still slightly before the Monokuma Morning Announcement. I then left my room.

I made my way over to the cafeteria, and by the time I made it there, it was now past seven, so the cafeteria was now open.

I entered there and got some food, by the time I sat down, someone else had entered the building.

"Good morning, Gregory." Nila smiled sweetly. Of course she'd be up around this time.

I smiled back at her. "Good morning to you too."

"Sleep well, this time?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, everything was fine."

She got her food and sat down next to me. "That is good."

By this point, others had gathered in the cafeteria. Mindy and Ashton were now here.

"It's just us?" Ashton said, looking around. Guess he's used to showing up after everyone else, like I sometimes do. He simply shrugged it off. "More food for us!" He went off to get some food.

While Ashton was looking around, Mindy had already gotten some food and sat down beside us. "Honestly, that area wasn't really my taste. Too… futury… if that's a word."

"Too futuristic?" I asked.

She nodded. "That's the word."

We ate for the next twenty minutes.

"However…" Nila started talking. "It is odd…"

I looked over at her. "What is?"

She looked around the room. "Why are we the only people here, normally everyone has gathered by now."

Ashton stood up. "Yeah, that is weird. Something must be wrong!"

"Something wrong?" A voice said coming from somewhere.

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Puhuhuhuhu!" He said laughing. "To think the groups would be so evenly split!"

"What do you mean?" I asked. Was he planning something?

He let out another laugh. "Well, let's just say your friends will need some help very shortly…"

Ashton walked over and went straight towards him. "What danger did you put them in?"

Monokuma lifted up one arm, leaning towards us. "Nothing yet, but it should be soon!"

"A new motive?" Mindy glared at him.

He remained silent for a few seconds. "Something like that…" What other reason would there be? "Let's just say I'm short on time, and I'm trying to wrap everything neatly!"

"Running out of time?" Nila asked.

"I can't exactly share the details." The bear started to sweat.

Ashton seemed to be getting a little more mad. "What do you mean you can't share the de-"

And then, the ground started shaking.

"E-earthquake?" Nila said out of shock. "I never experienced it before." She seemed to not be worried.

Monokuma, on the other hand, was sweating bullets. "I have less time than I thought!"

This kinda made Ashton mad as he ran over to the bear, lifting him up in the air. "What the hell does that mean? What's happening?"

"Hey! Hey! Let go of me!" The bear said. "Forget what I said!" Then, his eyes gleamed. "Isn't there something more pressing on your minds."

"Where are the others?" Mindy asked quickly.

That's right, they still hadn't shown up.

"Puhuhuhuhuhu!" He laughed. "Well, they are currently trapped in the future zone!"

Ashton's grip tightened. "How can they be trapped? You didn't close the gate on them again, did you?"

Monokuma quickly shook his head. "N-no- Let me go!" He raised his hands in the air. He was then dropped. "I didn't close the gates, that would be reusing old motives. But, they are going to have a hard time getting back!"

"W-what have you done, then?" Nila asked, holding her hands tightly against herself.

Monokuma was silent. "You'll just have to see for yourself." Thanks.

Without any delay, we quickly made our way to the gate.

Peering inside, the first thing we noticed was that the blue beam in the distance, was now blood red.

"What the…" Mindy couldn't believe what she was looking at.

Suddenly, the sound of a beam firing could be heard. And it hit the side of the gate.

"Holy shit!" She yelled out, taking cover.

What the heck was that? I looked around frantically before I saw one of the robots from earlier. It's eyes were now red. And I realized… just how much trouble the other group was in at the moment. There were countless robots in the area, and, if all of them were going after them, I feared for them.

"W-what the hell is this?" Ashton shouted out. "They were fine yesterday!"

Another laugh came from the bear. "I told you, it takes too long for one of you to get the killing done, so I'm hurrying up the process."

"We… we have to get them out of there!" Nila said before she attempted to run in.

Luckily, Mindy grabbed her arm before she could get far. She pulled her back. "I don't care if you are the Ultimate Soldier!" She yelled out. "That's still suicide."

"B-but…" She whined.

Ashton pumped his fist together. "We need a plan of attack!"

I brought my hand to my mouth, thinking. "But we don't really have a way to…"

"An hour." Nila said shortly. "Give me an hour…" She trailed off. "Or two…"

What's she planning…?

.

.

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Meanwhile…

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"Is everyone alright?" I shouted, moving some rubble. This wasn't part of the earthquake. Something else did this.

Jared was fine, and also looking for the other two. Eventually, we found them, and they were fine.

In fact, Jeremy didn't even seem phased. "I take it that was an earthquake?"

I shook my head. "There was one, but something hit the side of the building." I glanced over to the door. I made my way over to it and attempted to open the door. However, it seemed to be blocked from the other side. "Dammit!"

"This way!" Veronica called out, making her way to the back of the room, where a door was. I'm not sure if I've noticed this before or not, but it was still there. The four of us moved over to the door and entered it.

We were now on the left side of the building. Where Veronica's Ultimate Attraction. "Veronica… why is this connected?" I asked.

"I don't know!" Sure you don't.

I looked around, and saw we were on the other side of the glass pane. Where all the lights were.

"Now what?" Jared asked.

The technician made her way towards the glass pane, and in the darkness, illuminated by a single spotlight, a silhouette of a ladder. Once she was at the top, she opened a trapdoor. "There, now we can see what the heck is happening."

I glanced at the others, and we all took turns going up.

I ran over to the door, taking a deep breath. I didn't feel like I would enjoy what I found. But, I opened the door anyways. Upon opening it, a beam blasted right over my head. And there, I saw the building was completely surrounded. Thinking quickly I aimed and managed to shoot one of them in the head. That seemed to take it out of commission. However, I had to quickly close the door.

I took a deep breath, looking over at the others. "Better make yourself comfortable… we might be here for a while…"

"What?" Jared asked, walking over to the door. "There can't be that many…"

I sent him a glare. "Oh, trust me, if I think it's futile, you should probably not start…"

Jeremy glanced over at me. "What about all the weapons downstairs, if we use them, I'm sure we can fight them back."

Not a bad idea, but… I shook my head. "We don't know how most of them wor-"

Veronica started heading towards the trap door. "It shouldn't be too hard to figure out." She went down the ladder.

Just what I thought…

"Are you alright Rial?" Jared asked. "You seem more ticked off than usual."

I looked at the ground for a few seconds. Yeah, I guess I was letting it show. I glanced over at him. "I'm fine…" I went over to the ladder, and followed Veronica.

Soon, I made my way back into the room from earlier. There she was, taking some stuff off the walls. I grabbed what looked like a bulky weapon. I inspected it and found the initials SN on there. Maybe it isn't what I thought it was… Then again, those can change…

"Oh!" Veronica said, almost dropping the things she picked up. "I didn't think you followed me." She smiled. "Could you help me bring these?"

I didn't want to, but it would be rude not too. I grabbed a few of them and started heading back to the trap door.

Once up there, she started looking through all the weapons.

"Are you familiar with these?" I asked her.

Veronica paused for a second. "No, I don't think so, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out what they do."

Jeremy picked up one of the weapons and aimed it at the wall. It shot a beam of sorts that bounced off the wall back over to him. Fortunately, it missed his head by a few inches. And then it didn't rebounce again. He remained silent for a few seconds before trying again.

"Jeremy! Stop doing that!" Veronica shouted out, taking the weapon out of his hands.

"It was fine." He replied with that smile of his.

Jared knelt down, looking at the remaining weapons. "If we learn how to use all of these, we might actually stand a chance…"

I looked around at everyone else. Yeah, maybe we might stand a chance. I glanced back over to Jeremy. If he doesn't kill himself first.

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Meanwhile…

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We were heading over to the cafeteria. Apparently Nila had made some preparations for our rescue mission. Although, it took a little longer than the two hours she said it would take. And by a little longer, try several more hours. Once we entered the building, we saw what was waiting for us.

"Huh…" Mindy was kinda at a loss of words. "Where did you…?"

On top of the table, was a pile of different weapons.

"It does not matter where I got them, just that we now have them." Nila said.

Ashton walked over to the table. "Save them first, then ask questions!"

Right, I guess. Although… I walked over to the table of weapons. I didn't want to use any of them… I never used any before, so I'd practically be useless in this sense.

Mindy walked over to the table and grabbed what appeared to be a bulky looking pistol. I… Don't know much about guns. "Heavy…" She commented, trying to lift it up with one hand, with some difficulty. Eventually, she just gave up and used both hands.

Nila saw what weapon she picked. "Oh, I would not use that one. It tends to-" And then the sound of Mindy taking a test shot could be heard… As well as her body falling backwards from whatever knockback came with it. "OWW!" She said, getting back up, gripping a part of her arm. The gun lay on the floor. "How can anyone use that?"

The soldier walked over to it, picking it up. "Well, through training I guess. No one should use it-"

"Wait!" Mindy said, walking over to her. "It was the first time shooting it, let me use it."

Now, she seemed concerned. "A-are you sure? You will only hurt yoursel-"

She nodded. "The bullets should be powerful enough to pierce metal…" She trailed off. "Hopefully." Reassuring. "Either way, I'll do whatever it takes to save the others."

Nila picked up a few guns. "I will take a few." She smiled sweetly. She turned to look at the thief again. "Oh, you don't mind carrying the extra ammunition?"

She took some of, placing them in her pocket. "No, I don't mind." She smiled.

All that was left was for Ashton and me to pick. But…

He was walking around the table looking for anything of use. He picked up a gun that was definitely larger than the pistol Mindy chose.

"Seems automatic." Ashton said, probably also knowing next to nothing about guns. He looked over at me. "What's with that look, I'm a car man, not a gunman!"

"Hey, I don't know anything either." I replied. Seems the girls were more knowledgeable than us in this domain.

Nila looked over at me. "You still have not chosen?"

I shook my head. "I don't think I'd be any help with these."

"We can use him as a distraction." Mindy smirked. Honestly, that was probably the most I'd help.

"No!" Nila shouted. "No one will be bait." She walked over to the table, grabbing various weapons. "Here!" She handed me what seemed to be a shotgun. I knew that, at least. "Huh…"

"It will be fine." She tried to reassure me, which did everything but that. She looked at everyone else. "Are you ready?"

"Yes." Mindy said with a confident smirk on her face.

"No…" I shook my head.

Ashton scratched the back of his head. "What's the plan again?"

Not exactly the dream team.

Soon, we all made our way to the entrance to the techno zone. Not many robots were there, probably because something was occupying their attention at the moment.

"So… the plan for today is to at least set up base somewhere inside there." Nila said, pointing to the distance. "I think we can fortify my Ultimate Attraction pretty well, with all the barbed wire."

I thought for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah, that sounds good. It's not too far into the zone, but also not near the edge…" I shouldn't have expected anything less. She'd probably been part of a lot of strategy meetings in the military…

Nila tilted her head with a sweet smile. "Then we attack now." And before any of us could say anything, she had run off.

"N-Nila!" Mindy was the first to react. "Don't just rush in without us." She chased after her.

I glanced over at Ashton, shaking my head. But, we both eventually joined in. Not like we had much of any choice.

Nila did, about as well as you expected. She was almost untouchable, and she wasn't actually using a gun. Her knives managed to pierce the robots with ease. Maybe they were made of a weak metal. Either that, or Nila was just that good…

The one problem with this rescue mission, is that there wasn't much to take cover behind. This… was going to be a long day…

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Meanwhile…

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We were standing at the bottom of a ladder. A ladder that apparently lead to the roof. "It would probably be best to get on top of the building. Better vantage point that way, and we can all easily shoot them that way."

Jared played around with one of the weapons he was given. "But, do you think these will work?"

Honestly, I didn't really know or care. As long as I could shoot them, it was fine. "We'll figure that out when we shoot them." My hand gripped one of the rungs of the ladder. I thought for a few seconds before I climbed my way up. Once on top, the first thing I noticed was the blood red beam in the distance, and, judging by where the robots were coming from, it seemed to be that's where they were being made. Perhaps any Monokumas were also being made there?

Jared was the next one up the ladder.

I made my way to the edge of the roof, taking cover behind the parapet. I've done this too often, haven't I?

Jared took cover beside me. He had grabbed what looked like a modified pistol. Although I couldn't tell what was done to it. He peeked his head out of cover and took a shot at one of the robots. An energy beam of sorts came shooting out. He managed to nail one of the robots in the forehead, taking it out of commision. Right, I should have figured it would at least be futuristic… after all…-

Veronica came up the ladder with Jeremy close behind her. "We can't fight them all off…" She said, moving over to be next to Jared.

I glanced over the wall again. "We can just hope that help comes. Nila and Mindy are more than capable enough to use weapons."

"I see you left out Ashton and Gregory." Veronica said. That, I did. They were good people, but I don't think they'd be much help in a scenario like this. Although… I glanced over at something in the distance. If the idiot is smart enough, his next move could only be one thing.

Soon, something caught my attention. Jeremy stood up on the edge of the roof. "What's the point of living without a little rush?" He started shooting at our attackers.

"Jeremy!" Jared shouted out. "What are you doing?"

He barely avoided an attack. "I'll be fine, just living life on the edge." He shot another one of them.

Suddenly, the part of the roof he was sitting on got shot by a beam and it started to crumble. Before Jeremy could react, the piece broke and he started to fall.

We all tried to react as quick as we did, but Jared was the first one to get to him. He grabbed onto his hand in time, pulling him back onto the roof. "What were you thinking!?" He seemed pretty mad. He went silent for a few seconds, seemingly deep in thought. "What's the point of fighting if you are going to do stuff like that?"

Veronica walked over to the officer. "Let's not fight at a time like this." She looked up at the sky. "It's hard to tell when it's getting late."

I glanced around. It was hard to tell, but a few hours had probably passed by since we started to gather weapons.

"I'll get some food so we don't starve." The blonde said as she left for the ladder.

I glanced down the building. It was still pretty well built, so it could sustain most of the attacks. I looked back over the entrance of the zone. I just hope that they were coming to rescue us. We can't do this on our own…

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Meanwhile

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Finally, we had made it to the barracks that was Nila's Ultimate Attraction. We quickly entered the building, closing and barricading the door behind us.

"We should spend the night here." Nila said, placing her weapons on a table as she sat down on a bed.

Mindy looked around, with a small frown. "You used to live like this?"

The soldier slowly nodded. "It's actually not that bad." Although, it did seem pretty bad. I walked over to a different bed, sitting down. Although, it didn't really matter what I was sitting down on, after a long day like that, it felt soft. I would not be able to do this on a daily basis.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Ashton asked.

Mindy glanced over at him. "I think we should go to that beam of light. It seemed to be rather important, maybe that's where they are being controlled?"

I slowly nodded. "That sounds plausible."

"Getting there's the only problem…" Ashton frowned, letting his head fall down onto the pillow. "It took all day just to get here."

I glanced out the barred window. The robots were gathering, but they were doing much besides waiting. "Well, there's not much we can do…"

Mindy placed down her pistol, grimacing in pain. "Why did I use this gun…"

"I told you not too." Nila frowned.

The thief shook her head. "Not like it really matters, as long as we can save the others."

Right, it didn't matter what we did, we just had to keep moving forward. I glanced over at Ashton, who seemed to be looking out of the window. He was in deep thought. "What are you thinking about?"

He stared at the window for a few more seconds before glancing over at me. "Oh, just thinking of a plan of attack!"

"You thought of anything?" I asked.

"Nope!" He said confidently as he looked back out of the window. Reassuring.

Nila looked around. "Well, might as well get some form of sleep. We will leave early in the morning."

Mindy glanced over at her. "How early are we talking?"

"Hmm…" The silver soldier thought for a few moments. "Six in the morning." She replied with a smile.

"No." Mindy frowned.

"Never." Ashton replied.

"That's not that bad." I replied.

Nila crossed her arms, pouting. "But that is when I get up."

"We'll wake up with the morning announcement." Mindy said, lying down and pulling a blanket on herself. "Good night."

Hearing that, I also wrapped myself in a blanket, slowly closing my eyes.

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Meanwhile…

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I was sitting down, back leaning against the walls. We had made our way back inside, figuring it would be better than to stay outside on the roof. I glanced up at the rest of them. They were all just content chatting amongst themselves. I decided to just abstain from talking. Not like I'd say anything of interest. They talked about various things, but none of them were a plan. Jared scolded Jeremy some more, who seemed unfazed. They talked about the weapons, about how the other group was doing. I think they talked about family too, because I heard the mention of a sister. But the details were a little bit fuzzy. And eventually… I fell asleep…

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I was lying down on a hill near a road. These types of missions were much harder, because I didn't have the advantage of a building. And, the targets moved much quicker out here than in the city. But it was the only way I could intercept them.

Soon, I would spot my target, or at least what they told me to look out for. Aiming at where they would be by the time my bullet reached, I pulled the trigger.

It was a messy scene. One of the times I didn't check the surrounding areas. The one time I somehow killed more than one person. After that, I took a break from my job to reevaluate a few things…

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I've been having this dream for a while. But… why now? This hadn't crossed my mind in months, but now it's suddenly here again. Oh well, there's not much I can do about that…

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The next morning…

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In the bunker…

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I woke up with Nila parading around, shouting, in an attempt to wake us all up.

"Come on everyone, I let you sleep in an extra five minutes from when I wanted to wake up!" She smiled sweetly.

Mindy leaned up shaking her head slightly. "Truly the kindest…" She said annoyed.

Ashton got up with a burst of energy. "Alright! Let's do this!"

The thief looked at him for a few seconds. "Weren't you saying not to be woken up early… don't betray me!"

"I did say not to wake me up early, but now that I'm up, I'm raring to go!" He pumped his fists together. "Let's go teach those robots a lesson!" He ran towards the door, opening it. A fraction of a second after he opened it, he closed it as the sound of something hitting the door could be heard. "Alright, we're surrounded by all sides."

"We could have just looked out the window to know that." Mindy deadpanned.

"Well, I know how to take care of it." Nila said, pulling out what appeared to be two grenades.

I looked at her for a few seconds. "Well… I guess that could work."

"Ashton!" She called out, pulling one of the pins. "Open the door."

The racer did as he was told and opened the door. A few shots went through the door before Nila managed to throw the first one, but it landed short of the robots.

"Nice throw." Mindy deadpanned.

When it went off, I realized it wasn't an actual grenade, and nothing more than a smoke bomb. Nila looked over at the thief with a sweet smile. "I wasn't aiming for them yet." She pulled the pin on the second one, dropping it before she kicked it out the door. The sound of metal hitting metal could be heard, before an explosion rang out. "Now!" She shouted as she dashed out the door.

Mindy was the first to react, running out after her.

Ashton and I looked at each other for a second before following them out.

By the time we made it out of the smoke, most of the robots surrounding us were taken out by the two girls. Sometimes, they can be scary.

"Most of them should be concentrated on the other group, so we should be able to make it to the center of the zone with ease."

Nila frowned. "We should not expect that, there could still be much more."

"Yeah, especially if Monokuma knows where we are. He'd be trying to stop us." I said.

"I got it!" Ashton shouted out.

"Got what?" Mindy asked."

He smirked confidently. "An idea, of course."

The thief stayed silent for a few seconds, visibly annoyed. "And what's the idea."

"Can't say." He replied. "I'll be right back!" He flashed a thumbs up before turning around and running.

"He's going to get himself killed." Mindy shook his head.

"Have a little faith." The soldier said, turning to look at our destination. "We will just hope his idea works out."

I glanced around, besides the ones at the bunker, there didn't seem to be many anymore. Which was worrisome.

We would travel for a lot longer before my fears came true. Without realizing it, they had formed a circle around us, closing us in.

"Dammit!" Mindy yelled, shooting one of them with her pistol, almost falling back from the recoil.

Nila ran towards them, managing to take out a few of them before needing to retreat.

I managed to blast one, yay me. But huh, yeah, that was it.

"Well, we appear to be in a bind." Nila said as more seemingly appeared. When the Ultimate Soldier says that, you know you're in trouble.

Soon, the sound of an engine or something could be heard.

Before any of us could react, the robots in front of us were smashed to smithereens as the car ran them over. It drifted slightly, turning to look at us. Then, the door opened, and Ashton stepped out slightly. "Everyone! Hop in!"

Mindy had a wide grin on her face. "Ashton, you beautiful bastard!" She ran over to the call. "Shotgun!" She yelled as she got in the front. I could have made a joke about being the one with a shotgun, but now didn't seem like the time. Nila and I got into the back.

Then, Ashton started driving again.

"Why didn't we do this yesterday?" I asked. Would have been really convenient.

The racer remained silent for a few seconds. "Because I never thought of it."

Mindy looked around the interior of the car. "So, this is a street car, you do street racing?"

"What, no, I would never." Ashton said, unconvincingly. This was a different car than what he was driving the other day. But it makes sense, this one actually has room for four. "Fine, yeah, that's how I started. Doing street racing. I was pretty good so I eventually tried to move over to professional racing."

I guess you have to start somewhere…

Soon, we saw the place where the beam was coming from. I remember seeing some control panels there, and we were hoping if we destroyed this place, we'd be able to stop the robots.

"Ashton…" Mindy said calmly, looking ahead.

He also kept looking forward. "Yes?"

"You aren't stopping this car, aren't you…" She asked.

"Nope!" He opened his door. "Better get ready to jump."

What? So suddenly?! I took off my seatbelt and glanced out the window. We were moving pretty fast; There was no getting out of this without getting hurt a little.

Mindy took off her seatbelt. "I take back what I said earlier; You're an asshole." She opened her door. She grabbed one of the cushions of the seat and jumped out, using it to soften the landing. "Shit! Fuck! Dammit!" She yelled as she rolled a bit.

Yeah… I couldn't do this… Jumping out felt like death. But suddenly, I was pulled the other way, falling out of the car.

Turns out Nila didn't think this meant death and took me with her. We hit the ground, but she took most of the impact. We rolled a bit before stopping.

"Are you OK?" She asked, looking down at me. She had a cut on her cheek, but that was pretty much it. She was like a tank.

"Y-yeah…" I put my hand to my head before I realized what kind of position I was in. "Could you get off me?"

The soldier looked at me for a few seconds before understanding. "OH!" She quickly got off me.

Now that she was off me, I glanced over at the car just in time to see Ashton hop out as the car kept going. It hit the control panel and absolutely wrecked it. But there was no explosion.

He stood there for a few seconds. "Huh… I thought there'd be a big explosio-" And then it exploded. "There it is!" He smirked. Then he went silent. "I really liked that car…"

The beam shooting towards the sky turned off and the robots around us all deactivated. It seemed it did the trick.

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Meanwhile…

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We had been set up outside again for the past hour. None of us wanted to sleep much with the looming threat that was outside. When… suddenly…

"They're just dropping." Jeremy noted, peeking over the edge.

No way, it doesn't just end like that. I glanced over, and to my suprise, he was right. They were just dropping like flies. How is this happening? "This has to be a trap."  
"Trap or not, this is our chance to leave." Jared said, walking over to the ladder. "It gives us an opportunity to at least gain some ground."

I looked at him. He was right, we can't just stay here forever. I don't think eating nothing but snacks would be good for my diet. I stood up. "Then let's go…" I headed over to the ladder and went down. Once I got inside, I'd see that Veronica was already there. "Didn't bother helping us?"

"I was sorting through all the weapons to test them out." She replied. "Also was going to bring up more snacks for everyone."

"We won't be needing those." Jared said. "We are leaving."

"What happened?" She asked.

He moved over to the door and opened it. "Apparently they just all collapsed."

Jeremy finally made it down. "It was probably the others."

Veronica moved over to the door. "Then let's go."

When I walked outside, I noticed that the red beam was no longer visible. Something had definitely happened.

We made our way towards there until we eventually encountered the rest of the group.

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I looked over, seeing them walk over to us. "There they are." I smiled. The fire Ashton caused was still going strong despite there not being much flammable stuff here.

"What did you guys do?" Rial asked, noticing the fire.

The racer simply laughed at that. "Drove a car through it."

The sniper looked at him for a few seconds. "That's one way to get rid of it."

"What happened!" An angry voice called out. "Nononononoooo!"

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Why did you have to go and blow it up?" Monokum asked, angry.

"We aren't playing your games anymore." Veronica said, glaring at him.

"We overcame your motive." Mindy smirked to herself. "Betcha you don't have another one of those stored away."

This just seemed to make him angrier. "Fine, you don't want to get yourselves killed? That's fine! I still have ways to make things move." He let out a laugh. "Things will move along, I can guarantee it." And then, he was gone…

I let out a small sigh, I guess it was too much thinking this was over. I looked around at all the robot bodies. "What should we do with all of these? It's kinda somber…"

"Let's throw them in the incinerator." Jared suggested. "I suspect it's hot enough to melt metal, so."

"Oooo!" Mindy smirked. "Bonfire."

After these last two days, maybe relaxing by a fire would do us some good.

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We had gathered at the incinerator, definitely the weirdest bonfire ever. But not like we can do much else in this zone.

Ashton tossed a robot in there. "Light it up!" He smirked.

Jared flipped the switch and we watched as the flames were now visible. "Might take a while…"

Some of us stood up while others sat down. I think I saw Mindy sit down on the cushion she took from Ashton's car.

We stayed by the fire for a few hours, periodically tossing some parts in. We chatted for a while, but none of the conversations really stuck in my head.

After a while, Jeremy stood up. "Well, that was fun, but I think I'm going to head back. Lie down in my bed, you know." He started to walk away.

Mindy stretched. "I think I'll head off too." She stood up and followed Jeremy.

I glanced back on the fire. I frowned slightly. After this, Monokuma was surely planning something…

"Try not to let the fire get too big." Jared said as he also left.

And, apparently Rial also left, but I never saw her leave. It was just me, Ashton, Nila, and Veronica left.

Veronica looked up at the fake sky. "You know, if this wasn't a techno zone, I'd expect to see some stars.

Ashton also looked up. "Yeah, that would make this moment better." He looked at all of us. "So, are we going to stay and talk, or head back to our rooms?"

"Talking would be nice." Nila smiled.

The racer walked away from the incinerator. "Well…" He thought for a few seconds. "If we do get out of here, who would you want to see first?"

Nila smiled sweetly. "I want to see my sister again."

"Aw yeah! Siblings!" He smirked. "I have a brother, so I'd be happy to see him again. I don't really get along with my dad that much."

This caused the soldier to frown slightly. "Nor did I."

Veronica glanced off to the side. "Meanwhile, I wasn't that close to my mother. Her and my father always fought. She ended up leaving with my sister at one point. She even changed her last name to my mothers." She glanced at me. "You have a sibling, don't you?"

I glanced at the ground. "I had one, but I don't like to talk about it…"

Veronica frowned slightly, looking away. "Had one, huh…?" I knew she had lost her sister too. She had mentioned it right after the second trial.

Ashton was looking at the ground. He probably expected this to be a happier time. "Sorry about that…"

Veronica shook her head. "It's fine… I lost my sister too… I wish she would have stayed, maybe it wouldn't have happened."

"You said she changed her last name to her mothers?" Nila asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. She changed it to Selene…"

Suddenly, the incinerator made a loud noise as more fire was seen in it. Seems it had gotten more fuel. This was enough to make Veronica jump slightly.

Ashton walked over to the machine, turning it off. "I think we should all go to bed."

I nodded in agreement. "It's probably pretty late now, and I'm starting to get tired." I smiled at everyone. "See you tomorrow." And then, I left.

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I was sitting down in a building. It's a building I've never been to. Nor thought I'd ever have to go too. The story of my house burning down had hit the news as a big story. My parents… they were the only relatives I had that wasn't my brother. So, I was supposed to be sent for adoption. But a man heard of my story and wanted to see me…

He knelt down on one knee so that we could see each other eye to eye. "Hey there little guy…" He had an honest smile on his face. "I heard what happened…" He told me.

I remained silent. I didn't want to speak quite yet.

He frowned slightly. "It's an awful thing to have happened to you… Sometimes, the world is just cruel like that."

Cruel, huh…? Yeah… it really is. The good get stomped down while the bad people thrive.

"But, despite that, there's still a lot of good people in this world. I believe while your brother turned out like that, you aren't the same."

No, I never want to be compared to him… ever…

"So I'm thinking about having you come with me. We aren't much, but words and actions are the way to change the world. Even if no one is listening, we will always speak our mind. Even if no one cares." He handed me a card. "I'll give you time to make your decisions. I'm not going to force you." He stood up. "See you in a bit. And remember, anyone can change the world for the best."

Change the world for the best? I thought that for the entirety of my life… But… Have I ever been able to change anything? That had been a cruel lie told to me.

Cruel, like the world.

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It was the day after the entire incident had occurred. I had gone to the cafeteria, but it seems like everyone else had the idea of sleeping in. I let out a small sigh as I ate. It was rather lonely. After I finally finished, I got up and decided I should head back to the area to see what happened to the rest of the robots we didn't melt. It was a bit of a walk there, but soon, I reached the source of the problem. The central area of the zone. This is where they all came from. I stopped at the control panel, or the part was intact. It was odd, a switch was manually flipped. But, that doesn't really matter, since Monokuma himself probably did this.

Then, I heard some running. Boots running on metal. I glanced up and saw Jared was sprinting like he was intent on stopping something. "Jared? Are you OK?"

He stopped running, but still clearly in a hurry. "It's awful!" He shouted. "Come with me!" And then he took off running again.

Why did this feel familiar? Although, because of that, it made me worry, since the last time this happened, we found Talia… I shook my head and started running after him. "What happened?"

"No time for talking!" He shouted. He was really worried about what was happening.

As I was running, something off to the side caught my attention. In the distance, I could see a blue flame from the incinerator. Someone had turned it on? I stopped running.

"Worry about that after this!" Jared said, not once stopping. This made me snap out of it and run with him again.

Soon, we arrived at the school. "The school?"

He nodded, quickly opening the door. "We can still-"

Then, the very distinct sound of glass shattering could be heard coming from around the corner, almost the moment we opened the door.

"Dammit!" He yelled out as he started running. The next sound was even worse. It was a loud gunshot, and, from having used one recently, it sounded like a shotgun.

We soon arrived at the classroom all the way in the back. I stepped on some glass, which cut up my foot slightly, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

Jared quickly opened the door and we ran in. I felt a presence in the room, but just as quickly, it vanished and I swore I saw something move.

Not that it mattered at that very moment, something more horrifying lay in front of us…

.

On the wall, not far from the horror, was what appeared to be a blast from a weapon. Near that wall, was the weapon in question, a shotgun that was also covered in blood. On the ground, lay a shattered picture frame, the image inside, drenched in blood. Around it, a rather large pool of blood. The blood, of course, belongs to the body that was next to it. Blood sprayed the entire top part of their clothes. Part of their face was missing, presumably from the shot. But still, it was unmistakable who it was. It was the Ultimate Soldier, Nila Darabond.


	11. Chapter 5: Hopeless Future-Deadly Life

Staring at the body, I almost wanted to puke. A lot of the inside of her head was exposed, so I quickly turned around to look the other way.

"There doesn't seem to be a Body Discovery Announcement." Jared noted, glancing the other way. Maybe he didn't want to see the body either? He clenched his fist. "I'll get the others, or, at least one more person so everyone else can get the memo." And with that, he left.

I took some time to sit down on a chair, holding my face in my hands. I thought we had overcome Monokuma, we had stopped his motive. So… why did a body still turn up. And… Why was it Nila? Who would want to do this?

After a few minutes, Jared came back with Ashton.

"What do you mean there's another bod-" He started asking before he stepped into the room, seeing it. He just kinda froze up.

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

The screen lit up to reveal Monokuma's face. "A body has been discovered. Please gather at the school in the techno zone. After a bit, everyone showed up, but they were all horrified, except for Jeremy and Rial, who didn't seem bothered.

"N-Nila...?" Mindy asked, looking at her body.

Veronica stayed frozen. "What… why… I thought we had finally beaten a motive…"

Jeremy stared at the body with a sad frown on his face, but he didn't say anything else besides that.

"We don't have time to waste on sentiment…" Rial glanced the other way. "We only have a limited time to investigate the body…"

Just as she said that…

Suddenly…

Bear…

"Puhuhuhuhuhuhu! What was that about winning? You can't beat me!" Monokuma kept laughing. "I won't go down so easily!"

"S-shut up!" Mindy yelled out.

"Oh, I guess that you don't want the files then, I'll just leave then…" He said as he started to leave.

Veronica reached her hand out. "No! Wait! We need that Monokuma file!"

Rial glanced to the side. "Not really, we can pretty much tell everything from a single glance."

"Well…" The bear trailed off. "Might as well give you it anyways." He said as he handed me the Monokuma File. I frowned slightly as I opened it up. I didn't want to read it, but I didn't have a choice…

.

**Monokuma File #6**

.

**The victim this time was Nila Darabond, the Ultimate Soldier. She was killed by a shotgun blow to the head. There's nothing else of interest besides the fact that she has burn marks from the bullet, which means the gun was fired close to her.**

.

… Nothing we couldn't already tell. A shotgun had to be shot near her. We didn't even get a time of death. Not that we needed one. We heard the gunshot that took her life. All that was left to do was investigate. I glanced over at Veronica and started to walk towards her, before a hand was placed on my shoulder. I glanced at who did that and saw Rial looking at me.

"Investigate with me, instead. Guns are my specialty." She said that, but I felt there was another reason to even do that.

Like usual, I walked over to the body, as hard as it was to walk over to it. As usual, Jeremy was the closest to the body. He held in his hand a broken piece of a chair, probably blown off from the shot.

He poked the part of her cheek still intact. "Yep, definitely dead." He said to himself. It wasn't long before he was slapped by someone. I glanced at who had done it to see Mindy, on the verge of tears.

"Don't ever do that again." She said, in a broken tone. After a few seconds, she stepped away.

I glanced back over to the body. It was still such a hard sight to witness. But, I had to. I didn't see much of note beside the small burn marks that were near her face from the shotgun. But that was mentioned in the file anyways. But… she seemed to have some on her hands too. But they were uninjured. Or, at least, there was some black stuff on her hands, I don't know from what…

"I don't think that's from the shotgun…" Rial noted.

Stepping away, I noticed the picture frame that was near her. I picked it up and saw that it was the picture that I saw when I first came in here. It was of all of us, with Jennifer sitting at her desk. But, that wasn't anywhere near where she died. Did someone move it? I couldn't tell…

Rial glanced at the desk. "It seemed to be on here when the gun was fired, judging by the glass on the desk."

The glass on the desk? I glanced over to the desk next to the body, and sure enough. There was some glass. So, it was placed there before she died. But by who? Either her or the killer…

That was pretty much all that was around her body. But there were a few more things in the room. I should probably also talk to the others…

Jared was holding in his breath, looking at the body. "Jared… you came rushing over here because you saw something?"

He remained silent for a few seconds before nodding. "That's right."

Nothing else was said, so I thought I'd move the conversation along. "Well… What exactly did you see?"

This was met with more silence. "I… I don't want to talk about it… At least not yet. I will mention it in the trial."

Thanks, that's going to help us a lot…

Behind him, I found what appeared to be a bullet hole from the gun. It was rather large, and didn't have any blood on it. So it didn't seem that the bullet that hit Nila also hit her also hit here. Looking around some more, I noticed that there was also a bullet hole up on the ceiling, quite similar to the one on the wall. I turned over to Rial. "Hey, what do you think you can tell me about these?"

She glanced over at the two marks in the wall. "The bullets for these were fired at a distance compared to the one on Nila, there isn't any gunpowder marks to signify the close range."

Interesting… "Would it be possible to tell where they were fired?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Probably not, while I'm good with guns, I don't really care about where the bullet comes from, as I don't need to."

Oh, well, there goes that lead...

Looking around the room, I found some scraps of paper on a table. But, they were all shredded. I could only see a couple letters at a time, but that was pretty much it. Why was this ripped in pieces? Was it incriminating to the killer? A little further, by the window, there was another piece of paper. Although this was caught in a part of the open window. I walked over to it to see if I could read it. It was still legible. Seemed like basic handwriting.

.

I want to meet in one of the CLASSROOMs…

.

Weird, it was a foreign writing, but felt oddly familiar… I shook my head. It probably didn't matter yet. We'd bring it up in the trial later. I took a moment to glance out the window. It was odd that it was open, since the last time I was here, it was closed. The school was surrounded by dirt to give the atmosphere of a real school. In the dirt, there seemed to be markings in it. Was it footprints, or just something else? A possible route of escape? Besides that, that seemed to be all the window offered. Walking away from it, I started walking over to Veronica again, but Rial stopped me. "Don't waste your time, we have other things to investigate." What was she doing? Well… she was kinda right. There were other things to worry about at the moment… "I think we should head out of here soon." She added.

I wasn't quite ready to leave yet. There were a few other things I wanted to know… Ashton was the only person I hadn't talked to yet. I walked over to him.

He remained silent, somewhat holding his breath. It's like he was trying not to puke. "I can't believe…" He started to say, looking back at Nila. "I can't believe someone would do this." It's almost like a tear formed in his eyes. "We need to bring whoever did this to justice!" I somewhat agreed, but based on what justice here entailed, I'm not so sure I wanted to do that…

Rial walked over to the shotgun lying on the floor. She picked it up to inspect it. "This shotgun can hold two bullets. One of them is missing." She said. That was interesting to know. She put the shotgun under her scarf with her sniper rifle. She glanced over at me. "What? For safekeeping…" She started heading over to the door. "Well, I'm pretty much done here, so if you want to wrap up, I have somewhere else I need to go…"

I thought for a moment. I also had somewhere I needed to go, so I was fine tagging along with Rial. And I don't think there was much else to inspect around here. I started following her when something caught my attention. The chair closest to the door had a shard of glass in it. And also seemed to be cut up. Right, the window. Jared and I heard it get smashed open, and there was some glass outside the door. I opened it to see it again. I remember stepping on it before entering the class.

"Are you coming?" The sniper asked.

We left the classroom, despite there being a few more people I wanted to talk to. Oh well, I'll have time during the class trial.

"So, before we go to where you wanted to go…" I said. "I saw that the incinerator was on."

She glanced over at me and then over in the direction it was. You could still faintly see the flames. "Odd, are you saying we should investigate it?"

We made our way over to it and turned it off. After the flames were extinguished, we could see something shiny at the bottom. It seemed to be a key. The key to one of our rooms. Odd…

Rial looked down at it. "Not much we can do about that unless you don't mind burning your hand…" I did not want that. She crossed her arms. "If this has to do with the murder, it's a good place to put this, since the investigation will probably be over before we can get to it…" She turned around to walk away. "Anyways, we still have to go check out what I want to know."

I followed her. Soon, we made our way out of the techno zone and made our way to the horror land. Why were we back here? We passed the graves again, and I glanced off to the side, no new graves were added. Then again, they were normally added after a trial… Shaking my head to get the thoughts out of there, I hadn't even realized we reached our destination. Rial's Ultimate Attraction.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, looking over at her.

She inputted her code and the door buzzed, granting us entry.

Well, upon first entering, one thing was pretty off. The wall all the way in the back had been broken down, revealing another room behind it.

"Not what I came here for, but… bonus." Rial said as she walked over to a panel that had a variety of weapons. After a few seconds, she turned away. "We're done here." She started to leave.

"And the extra room." I asked.

She glanced over at it. "Right, forgot that was even a thing." She started to head towards it before…

Suddenly…

Bear!

"Puhuhuhuhu!" He mocked us. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"I will punt you across the room." Rial threatened.

The bear simply shrugged. "Won't do you any good anyways. Unless you want to die."

"Scared we'll find out who you really are if we snoop around?" Rial asked.

The bear laughed again. "Mason couldn't even figure ou- Whoops spoke too much! You can now leave."

We weren't going to get anywhere with this. We'd have to come back later when he isn't here.

Rial turned around to leave the room. "Not much else to explore really, we should probably just go see the others."

"Already…?" I looked around as we left. "But we barely investigated."

"Unlike what Mason and Nila did, this one seems pretty straight forward." She said.

Yeah, those ones were pretty out there. This one we know for sure what the murder weapon is and how they died. And we know the time of death because we heard it as we ran to the room. Passing by the graves again, I glanced over and noticed that something had been added. Nila's name was now added to it. But… how, I just passed by here five minutes ago. Another glance, I saw something lying in fro-

"Don't just stop walking." Rial said as she kept walking.

I guess I can check that out later.

By the time we made it back to the techno zone, a familiar noise was heard.

.

_Ding Dong! Bing Bong! Ding Dong! Bing Bong!_

.

Monokuma appeared on the screen near us. "That should be more than enough time to investigate the body and all the things to do with it. Please don't investigate things you don't need to. You wouldn't want to make me angry."

"Dammit…" Rial mumbled. "That's even less time than normal. He's trying to make us know as little as we can…"

I slowly frowned. "Just like the motive."

She started heading towards the fountain. "Well, he can't get rid of us that easily."

As we walked, I turned my attention to her. "Why did you drag me away like that?"

She stayed silent for a few seconds. "... Remember the last trial when I said I was planning on killing Ashton?"

I slowly nodded. "Yeah… but that's not what I asked…?"

This was followed by more silence before she answered. "He wasn't who I was actually going for…" I tried to process who she could have possibly gone for, but before I knew it, we had reached the fountain.

Soon, the others gathered.

"Gregory, why did you leave suddenly?" Veronica asked, approaching me. She had a small frown on her face.

I glanced to the side and noticed that Rial was off doing her own thing. "She kinda dragged me around."

The technician pouted slightly. "Rude." She crossed her arms, glancing away. "I didn't really find anything of use. There really wasn't anything of substance…"

Figured it would turn out like this. "Well, all we can do is try our best with what we have."

"Will it be enough?" She asked.

I wasn't too sure, but I nodded anyways. "Should be."

Soon, the fountain moved and the elevator appeared. We all stepped in. Most of us remained silent. Another one of these, huh?

Soon, the door to the elevator opened, and we all stepped out.

All the old pictures were still there, but now, two more were added. Miranda's had a violin with a bow across it to form an X. And Nila's was a gun with a knife crossing it. I frowned slightly as I made it to my podium. I glanced around at everyone else.

Several pictures appear

_One of Miranda playing her violin_

_One of Jerry juggling._

_One of Jeremy waving casually._

_One of Mason smirking mischievously._

_One of Matthew stroking his chin._

We thought we finally won.

_One of Veronica holding on tightly to a wrench._

_One of Denise lowering her sunglasses._

_One of Nila with her hands held close to her._

_One of Richard, looking off into th aaaaaah. e distance._

_One of Talia holding a tray, looking angry._

_One of Rial, looking at the ground, this time, as a girl._

We weren't going to play his games anymore.

_One of Mindy, with an ice pick._

_One of Jared, adjusting his cap._

_One of Katrine, glancing away._

_One of Ashton, fist bumping himself._

_One of Gregory, looking determined._

So why… Why are we back here?

.

.

.

Class Trial

Commence

.

.

.

"So… where exactly do we start with this one?" I asked. We didn't have much to go off.

Rial glanced off to the side. "Well, first, we should realize something. Someone was able to take out Nila, so it can't just be anyone."

Jeremy nodded. "I can't imagine someone like her going down easily, or at least without a fight."

"The room was kinda trashed around where her body was." Ashton mentioned.

That was right. "One of the frames was broken, from either being shot, or dropped." I said.

Jared crossed his arms. "But that doesn't really mean there was a struggle. At best, the shot broke the frame, and her body falling moved the chairs around. We shouldn't make any rash assumptions."

True, maybe there wasn't a struggle. But still, that's hard to believe…

"There was also the point that there were two missed shots." Rial added. "Hard to miss with a shotgun in such an enclosed space."

"Unless you're trying to miss." Jeremy said. "But what would be the benefit in that?"

Mindy nodded. "Exactly, there wouldn't be any to it. Unless the killer was trying to make it seem like they weren't good with guns."

A few eyes fell on Rial. "Oh, I see how it is. Well, I can assure you if I was the killer, I wouldn't have done something as stupid as that. Or even use a gun in the first place. Plus, I would only resort to killing if I had to."

"Did you have to?" The surfer asked.

This received a glare from her. "Of course I didn't have to."

"Moving on…" Veronica let out a small sigh. "I did find some small scraps of paper at the scene, but I couldn't read any of it."

I slowly nodded. "I also found a note. The only difference is that I could read the one I found. It seemed to be asking to meet in the classroom, and was dropped near the window."

"Then what are we waiting for!" Ashton yelled out. "We need to figure out who's handwriting that is!"

Jeremy shook his head. "Not like that would do us any good, whoever wrote it would just write differently as to not raise suspicion."

Mindy nodded. "Pursuing that route is pointless. But at least we know someone called Nila to a meeting. Probably to ambush her."

"But that raises another question, who would even want her dead?" Veronica asked.

Ashton looked at the ground. "Without her, saving you guys wouldn't have been possible. She pushed on, not wanting to rest until you guys were all safe."

Rial frowned slightly. "Noble of her…"

"Maybe we should start talking about the weapon again." Jeremy crossed his arms. "A shotgun isn't something that just lies around the park."

"Well…" I started to talk, glancing away nervously. "Somehow, Nila managed to gather some weapons, and I was given it. But I gave it back to her after we blew up the command center."

Ashton nodded. "She never did mention where she got it from."

"And I don't think she ever put them away. Or, at least, I never saw her." Mindy said.

Rial glanced away. "Alright. So what's being said is anyone could have taken the shotgun?"

Jeremy crossed his arms, letting out a small sigh. "It would seem that way, which doesn't really help."

The sniper looked at the ground for a few seconds. "Well, that simply isn't true…"

"Huh?" The surfer asked. "Then that makes it easier, right?"

Rial looked at everyone. "The weapons Nila managed to gather, were all mine."

W-what? "So she got into your Ultimate Attraction?"

She nodded. "It's not that strange, actually. I gave her the code. She liked to go there to train early in the morning."

Go there early in the morning to train…?

.

_I looked back at the graves. "Yeah, I did. But it's more like my body acted without me realizing."_

_Nila looked around the graves. "I see Monokuma added three new ones." She frowned._

_I thought for a bit. "Why did you come to the horror section?"_

_Nila thought for a few seconds. "I do not know, maybe I just like the atmosphere here more than the others." She glanced away._

_I slowly nodded. "That's fair…"_

.

She did hang out around there all the time. That would explain why, and you have to pass by the graves to get to Rial's place.

"Are you implying Nila took the shotgun out?" Ashton asked.

The sniper rolled her eyes. "Well, it's either that, or someone else magically found out the code."

"Didn't Mason learn the code?" Jeremy asked. "Wouldn't be hard for someone else to do so."

Rial shook her head. "Unless she was followed or told someone, no one should have known it. And I've been too cautious since Mason to let anyone else know."

Jared clenched his fist. "Either way… it was her, because that's what I saw on camera holding the weapon walking around the park." He glanced away.

That must be why he rushed over.

"So wait, does that mean Nila sent out the note?" Ashton asked.

Jeremy shook his head. "She could have just taken the weapon as precaution."

"Did she even really need to bring one for precaution?" Veronica asked, glancing over at Nila's picture.

"Now, another problem arises." Jeremy said. "Nila started with the shotgun, so how did someone manage to get it away from her?"

"The two bullet holes in the wall and ceiling were probably caused by the struggle." Mindy said. "They fought over the weapon, and whoever her attacker was won."

Rial glanced away. "They might not have even gotten it out of her hands. All they needed to do was point it at her and pull the trigger. So it's likely that they were both holding the weapon."

Mindy frowned. "Who could even wrestle that out of her hand?"

"Well…" Veronica trailed off. "There is one thing we know. Remember back when she was infected. We found her tied up to a pole?"

"Oh yeah, someone had tied her up there, we never did figure out who did it." Ashton said.

Mindy glanced around. "Well, there were only a certain amount of people who had gone outside while she was like that. Two people to be precise…"

"Jared had stayed away from our group most of the time…" I started to say. "And Jeremy left in the middle of the night. He was also the one who found Nila tied up." I thought some more. "But Jared was with me this morning when we heard the gunshots go off, so it can't be him."

Jeremy frowned slightly, crossing his arms. "Are you saying it's me?"

"Well… no, but you are a suspect of someone who could maybe-" I then got cut off.

"Please, I couldn't take anyone on in a fight." He said.

Mindy frowned slightly. "You say that, but you went outside the restaurant like there was nothing to worry about."

The surfer remained silent for a few seconds before he finally spoke up again. "Yeah, I left the restaurant at that time. Does that really mean anything, though? I didn't want to stay inside the entire time, it was rather boring." He glanced over at me and smiled. "Besides, I didn't write the note. You've already seen what my writing looks like, during the same time period."

Rial crossed her arms. "Yeah, but weren't you the one who said that the person who wrote it could just change their handwriting to throw us off."

The surfer thought about that for a bit. "I guess I did say that. But, still, I don't think the killer would need to even hide their writing, especially since they could just take it away right after, don't you think?"

"What are you implying?" Mindy asked.

"Well… maybe the killer didn't write the note, but…" Jeremy trailed off.

… "Are you saying Nila wrote it?" I asked.

Opposite to what I thought he'd answer, he simply shrugged. "She wrote something."  
"And how can you tell that?" Jared asked.

"Being next to the body gets me a better look at things." He had a small smirk. "But, she had some pencil dust on her hand, so she was writing something."

"Then there's no saying she wrote that note, since there were two of them." Veronica said.

He remained silent for a bit longer. "True."

"Now the question was, what was on that second one, that warranted it getting shred to pieces." Rial crossed her arms.

"Of course, something incriminating." Jeremy said. "Why else would they rip it up?"

Veronica took some stuff out of her hoodie. "I brought some of the bits of the ripped letter, not that it's going to be of much help."

Rial looked over at the ripped paper. "Well, if we could form at least a letter, we could see if it matched the handwriting. There's a chance she wrote two letters."

Jeremy nodded. "Let's go back to the letter on invitation. Like I said, had it been the killer who wrote it, they would have destroyed it or taken it with them. It being left behind seems to imply it didn't matter who wrote it, because it wasn't them, nor did it paint them in a bad light. Which moves us onto the second letter. What purpose would the killer have of writing a letter? There was already a letter of invitation. So it pretty much has to be something that incriminates them."

Veronica looked over at the surfer. "If Nila sent the letter out to the person, maybe they wrote a second letter and kept it on herself in case things went south."

So she kept it on her. She only had two pockets, which were on her shirt. Is something wrong with that?

"It would have gotten covered in blood, which it clearly wasn't." I said.

"And hiding it in her pocket would have been the best spot." Jeremy crossed his arms.

"If it helps, the note was a few desks away from her body." Veronica said. Yeah, I remember it being there too. Which was weird.

"Are you saying that that's where she put it? Why would she put something that could incriminate the killer out in the open?" Ashton asked.

"Hmm…" Jared hummed in thought. "That's the million dollar question, if that's where it was."

Jeremy let out a small sigh. "Well, if that note was left out in the open for all to see, she must not have wanted to hide it. It might not have even had anything to do with the killer."

Not have anything to do with the killer? Then why rip it up?

The surfer was now frowning. "Which gives me an idea on who Nila was going to use the shotgun on. Who she was going to kill."

What? Already? "You can't seriously tell that already."

He glanced off to the side, crossing his arms. "It's not like I know it, it's just a hunch…"

"We don't have time to rely on hunches." Rial glared at him.

Jeremy let out a sigh. "No point saying it if everyone thinks like that."

Veronica frowned. "Don't play games like these."

He can already tell who she was planning on using the shotgun on? But we've had no indication on who she sent the letter too. Unless… Who would Nila want to kill…?

.

.

.

She wouldn't want to kill any of us. Not after spending all that effort to save us. But… she brought the shotgun with the intent of using it. If not on us, that leaves only herself… that note must have been a suicide note. "You… you're saying that she wanted to kill herself?"

Jeremy drifted his eyes to the side, a small frown forming on his face. It seems I had gotten it…

.

.

.

Intermission…

.

.

.

"No…" Mindy mumbled, her tone was filled with sadness. "No, she wouldn't do that."

Rial glanced away. "I'd have to agree with her. If you are implying that she wrote a suicide note, what benefit would the killer get from ripping it up."

"..." He looked away. "Fair enough, but still, you can't deny it as a possibility."

"We can, and we will." The thief said.

The surfer laughed a little. "Then the other possibility is that Nila brought the gun to kill someone. I don't think you'd like that option either."

Mindy looked like she was going to say something, but shut herself up.

"Continuing on…" The surfer said.

"The traitor…" The thief finally said. "Maybe whoever she called was the traitor…"

Nila inviting the traitor? If she did, that means she would have figured out who it was.

"That's also true, I won't discount that." Jeremy smiled. "But then she could have simply waited and ambushed them with her knives."

Jared nodded. "Before I left, all she was doing was standing in the middle of the room. When she entered the room, she closed and locked the door and grabbed something off the desk. Then she sat in her chair with the shotgun in her lap. Waiting."

That's new information to me...

"She probably wanted to talk to the traitor. Try and figure out what they could." Mindy said.

"Either that, or they just thought they could take them in a fight." Veronica said.

The thief shook her head. "A surprise attack could have happened. They could have snuck in via the window. It was open after all."

I slowly nodded. "There were even signs that someone had been there."

Veronica shook her head. "I personally checked out the window, and it could only be opened from the inside."

"Then the window could have been opened by Nila." Mindy said.

"She'd have no reason to do that." Jared said.

We just keep going around in circles, not actually going anywhere concrete.

"We all just circle back to Nila couldn't have lost the fight." Jeremy sighed. "The only one who could beat her is herself. We also know her signature weapons were knives. There was no reason to bring a shotgun unless she killed herself."

Rial shook her head. "There's still the possibility she brought the shotgun because she couldn't allow who she was meeting to get anywhere close to her. Someone small but dangerous."

Small and dangerous? "Who would that be?"

"Like you even need to ask." Rial glared at someone.

"You can't be talking about Veronica. Just what kind of opinion do you hold of her?" I asked. She had been against her for a bit.

"What…?" The technician asked. "Why would I want to kill her?"

"You'd have a reason if you were the traitor…" Rial glanced away.

Veronica seemed to be getting a little angry now. "Why would I be the traitor? If the note was something about the traitor, why would I bring it here?"

She had a point, not that I believed she was the traitor anyways.

"We are running out of possibilities here." Jared said.

I looked down at my podium. We were running out of possibilities. I know Nila killed a ton of people… but…

.

"_I… do not want to be responsible for their death…" Nila frowned… "I do not want to ever be responsible for someone's death in my lifetime ever again."_

_That's right, she is the Ultimate Soldier, so they probably took a lot of lives…_

.

This echoed through my mind. If that was the truth. Why would she ever want to kill someone? She just tried to let Miranda live a little longer, not wanting her blood on her hands. So why, after saying that, would she want to kill? Unless whoever she met up with, she wasn't going to kill. Then, how did it turn out like this?

"Maybe we are thinking about this wrongly…" I started to say. "We know Nila wouldn't kill anyone because she no longer wants blood on her hands. So what if the person she met up with her wasn't someone she wanted to kill."

"Then what other reason did she have for inviting them and also bringing a shotgun?" Mindy asked.

Jeremy glanced off to the side, thinking of something.

If he's right, then the shotgun could only have been for herself. An easier way to go instead of using her knives on herself. But still, why invite someone. Why write a note? Why was it ripped up? Are any of our theories wrong? Did she want to kill the traitor… or herself.

Which is right…?

.

.

.

… Neither… are wrong… My eyes opened up in shock. If we take into consideration all the actions she took. She wanted to kill the traitor, and herself because…

She was the traitor…

"Guys…" I said, glancing away… "I'm not sure if I'm right… but… what if Nila was the traitor…?"

An eerie silence swallowed the room. No one wanted to say anything.

Mindy was the first to speak up. "What kind of shitty conclusion is that?"

"Hey, let me explain a bit… It all has to do with the timing of events… Yesterday, Monokuma said…"

.

"_We overcame your motive." Mindy smirked to herself. "Betcha you don't have another one of those stored away."_

_This just seemed to make him angrier. "Fine, you don't want to get yourselves killed? That's fine! I still have ways to make things move." He let out a laugh. "Things will move along, I can guarantee it." And then, he was gone…_

.

"It made it seem like he was planning to do something. And the only thing he could do is incite the traitor somehow, like he did back when he had the third trial." I continued. "Not just that, but according to Mason…"

.

"_That's not all I have. This one didn't come from the room, rather, it came after I went there. I was approached by someone. I don't know who exactly. But…" He trailed off. "I'm sure it was the traitor." He laughed. "Seems they were too much of a coward to actually kill me themselves. Or should I say… herself! _

"_You heard the traitor speak?" Ashton yelled out. "Who was it?"_

_Mason crossed his arms. "It was the voice of a girl, but their voice was still muffled. So I couldn't quite make out who they were. But, they were the one who told me to get Matthew. So, I decided to play along with them for a bit."_

.

"We know it's a girl who was unwilling to kill. Nila has shown that she no longer wants to result in anyone's death." I said. "So, when she was tasked with killing someone, she probably figured the best person to kill was herself…" The room went silent again.

Suddenly, a laughter ran through the trial grounds. "PUHUHUHUHU!" Monokuma was the one laughing. "Maybe she was the traitor, she wasn't too useful, but she sure knew how to keep things interesting!"

"Shut up!" Mindy said bitterly. "Why… why would you have her do any of that…?"

He only laughed again. "It's amazing what you can do when you dangle the life of a family member in front of someone."

Her… her sister. "That's cruel!" I yelled out. "Why would you ever do that!?"

"Isn't despair fun! I sure know it is!" The bear said.

"That's… that's fucked up!" Ashton yelled out. "You don't just tangle someone's sister in front of them like that. She only did that because she cared so much about her!"

"Does it look like I care? Because I don't really. Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed again.

Rial reached out for her weapon, but stopped herself.

"This is her penalty for attacking me." The bear said.

Attacking him… he doesn't mean when she got tied up? She tried to attack Monokuna?

"She attacked me, but of course I came out victorious! That's when I started using her as the traitor. She was more useful alive than she was dead after all. Puhuhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. laughed again.

This is so messed up…

Rial shook her head. "Ignore him, let's get back to the trial."

Jared nodded. "We should continue to discuss what happened." He glanced away. "But… how… how did the scene turn out like that." He looked at the ground. "There was definitely a struggle. Seemingly there were two missed shots."

Right… someone else was involved…

"It looks like someone tried to stop her." Veronica mumbled.

"Why even invite someone if you are just going to kill yourself?" Ashton asked.

I thought for a moment. "Maybe so they could find the body easier?"

Jared shook his head. "It doesn't make sense because I would have seen it."

True… I don't see why someone would need to be called in the first place.

Rial shook her head. "Let's not worry about why someone was invited, let's just worry about how the scene turned out like that."

I nodded. "Right…"

"Three shots were fired based off of everything we found. Two missed, and one hit Nila in the head." She continued on. "Based on how Nila would have positioned the gun, we can assume the first shot was fired towards the ceiling. Someone knocked it away from her face as it fired."

That seems about right.

"And then another missed shot happened, which resulted in the one in the wall." Mindy said. "Finally, the third shot should have been what did Nila in."

Rial crossed her arms. She was thinking of something.

Jared nodded. "That shot was the one Gregory and I heard as we entered the building."

Mindy nodded. "Most likely. The killer probably accessed the situation seeing Nila with the shotgun and realized what was going on, breaking open the window, they rushed her, probably knocking it away from her face."

"Seems to be the case. But that doesn't help us too much because any of us could have done that." Veronica frowned.

Ashton nodded. "Any one of us would have jumped in to stop her."

"We also have to figure out who shot the final shot. If it was Nila herself, this whole trial could be over soon." The thief said. "But if somehow, the second person did it, then we need to figure out who that is."

"Winning in a fight with her isn't exactly the easiest, so it's possible the gun was pointed at her the whole time." Veronica said. "They just must have gotten unlucky on the third shot."

Rial let out a small huff. "I'm an idiot." She glanced away. "It couldn't have been the third shot that did her in."

Mindy looked over at her. "Why not?"

"It's pretty obvious why it couldn't have been the third one." The sniper said.

.

"The chamber only holds two bullets at a time. Someone would have needed to reload the gun to even have to shoot a third time." I said.

"Who would even have time to reload?" Ashton asked.

Rial nodded. "Exactly, they wouldn't have."

Veronica glanced off to the side, crossing her arms. "Not to mention she wouldn't have had any reason to bring ammo in the first place if one shot should have been enough."

Mindy shook her head. "But it's even less likely that the other person brought ammo for a shotgun."

"Well, can't we just assume that Nila just carries ammo with her at all times?" Ashton asked.

"Why shoot a third time?" Jared asked.

Yeah, why shoot a third time, because of that, we heard where it was happening…

.

"Maybe it was to jumble the order of events…" I asked.

"The order of events?" The officer asked.

I nodded. "When we entered the building, it sounded like someone had broken into the room, and then we heard gunshots, which made us think someone had just been shot."

"Why would the killer want to do that?" Veronica asked.

Mindy shrugged. "Obviously to confuse where they entered the building. The window breaking makes it appear that they entered from the door."

The technician frowned slightly. "But I already told you, that the window couldn't have been used."

"We are still going under the assumption that the window was closed the whole time." The thief said.

"I guess we could only ask Jared." I said, looking over at him.

He froze up for a bit, trying to remember. "No… I'm pretty sure the window was closed."

Mindy frowned slightly. "It was? Then, maybe the person was already in the room."

"I didn't see anyone else…" Jared started to say. "Although, I wouldn't be able to see if they were hidden in the closet."

The thief nodded. "It's possible the person didn't know who sent the note and prepared for the worst."

"And… seeing the shotgun…" Veronica continued.

"Thought the worst and went to use it on Nila." Mindy finished.

Rial nodded. "The first shot missing makes sense, and then the second one would also make sense. And to give the illusion that they just entered, they broke the window."

Why does all of this seem confusing still. We've been walking around in circles, not making any actual advancements. Everytime we make any ground, something is said to throw off our thinking…

"So after they killed Nila… they must have taken the ammo she had on her." Ashton said. "Must have figured she had some on her anyways."

I nodded. "We did go and rescue everyone the other day, so she was probably the one who held all of our ammo."

Mindy nodded. "Exactly."

Not that I really know, I never needed more ammo since I barely used the gun. And Nila had restocked our weapons overnight anyways.

I glanced around the room, and my eyes stopped on Jeremy. He had been rather quiet, and when he was quiet, it meant he was deep in thought. "Come up with anything?"

He looked up at me, frowning slightly. "Not really, just thinking about the room."

"Thinking about the room? In what way?" I asked.

"Well, while it's true the classrooms for the most part, have closets." Jeremy crossed his arms, frowning. "That one, didn't. So there would be nowhere for the killer to even hide. They'd be out in the open, and if there was a part the camera couldn't see, then Nila would have seen it anyways."

I remained silent for a few seconds. "Then… what does that mean…?"

"That means that the killer entered through the door, AFTER Nila entered the room." He glanced away, frowning.

"You know something else… don't you…" Veronica narrowed her eyes.

The surfer couldn't help but laugh at that. "Am I that obvious? I was just listening to what everyone else had to say. Forming my own opinion on this."

"What did you realize?" Ashton called out.

Jeremy lifted up his hands in defense. "Woah, no need to get so loud. Just that based on what everyone has said, it's pretty obvious who the killer is."

What, he's figured it out? How did he… "Who is it."

He kept the frown on his face. "It's like what Nila said, saying it would just be condemning them to death, not really something I want to do."

I stopped. Please. Don't bring this up again. It was enough to deal with the last trial, I don't need a repeat… I took a deep breath. "How did you figure it out." I asked.

The surfer looked over at me, "It was something Jared said, when he was describing what he saw."

"What… I saw?" He asked.

Jeremy nodded. "It was… an interesting bit of information." He looked up at him.

Jared himself seemed to be confused.

What did Jared say, and how does it prove who did it…?

.

.

_Jared nodded. "Before I left, all she was doing was standing in the middle of the room. When she entered the room, she closed and locked the door and grabbed something off the desk. Then she sat in her chair with the shotgun in her lap. Waiting."_

.

Why… I didn't realize it, but it makes sense now.

The door was locked… but when we got there, it was unlocked. Nila would have no need to ever unlock it, if she wanted to take her life. She must have locked the door so they could only watch.

I took a deep breath. "Mindy…"

She looked over at me. "Yeah?"

This was hard… "You did it, didn't you?"

She was silent for a second before she responded. "Are you accusing me?" She said in a very calm voice.

It kinda threw me off for a second. "Well… not that I'm accusing you… But according to Jared, the door was locked."

"So?" She glanced off to the side. "Are you accusing me because I'm the only one who can pick locks?"

I frowned slightly. "That's the basics of it."

Jeremy crossed his arms. "You were also trying to make us think the killer got in a different way, or at least before Nila did specifically because of the locked door."

"Oh, just because I thought something, that's also a reason to accuse me?" Mindy asked. "Clearly, someone is trying to make it look like it was me." She frowned.

"But-" I started to say.

The thief glanced away. "Think the door window was broken after Nila died. That's a possibility, but that's not the only glass you should have heard break."

What? What other glass could have broken…?

.

"The only other broken glass was the picture fra-" I started to say.

"That would make a shattering sound, wouldn't it?" Mindy asked. "Not hard to think whoever did it broke into the room and did that as soon as they heard someone enter the building. Why else would they wait?"  
Jared looked over at her. "Are you saying the sound we heard was the picture frame?"

She nodded. "It would have had to be. If it couldn't be the window on the door."

"But why do all of this to frame you?" Jeremy asked, frowning.

"Hell if I know." Mindy replied, with a frown.

Rial glanced over at her. "All seems fine, until you consider how the window shattered."

How the window shattered, huh?

.

"The shards of glass were found outside the classroom, like someone had broken the window from the inside. And also, the chair was probably used to break it." I said.

Mindy frowned slightly. "Wouldn't have been too hard to move the shards of glass outside to make it appear that way." She turned her attention to Jared. "Jared, how long did it take you to get from your attraction to the classroom."

He started to think about it before looking at her. "I'd say about five minutes. Which… is a decent amount of time."

"Enough time for anyone to set up the scene however they wanted to." Mindy smirked, before frowning. "I didn't do this… please stop accusing me.."

I… I just can't see it being Mindy right now. It's looking like someone tried to make it seem like her, but who would do that… I frowned slightly.

"Dammit!" Ashton yelled out as he slammed his fist on his podium. "Why… why do I remember this at a time like this…?"

I was slightly taken aback by it. "What… what did you remember?"

"A conversation that you and I witnessed, while we were choosing weapons to use to save the others. Nila… said something to Mindy." He said.

She said something… to Mindy…?

.

That's right…

.

_Nila picked up a few guns. "I will take a few." She smiled sweetly. She turned to look at the thief again. "Oh, you don't mind carrying the extra ammunition?"_

_She took some of them, placing them in her pocket. "No, I don't mind." She smiled._

.

Nila gave Mindy extra ammo… And… that's how the shotgun was reloaded. Mindy must have still had it. I looked over at her. "Mindy… please stop lying."

"Lying? I'm not lying-" She started to say.

"Bullshit!" Jared called out. "Why won't you just tell the truth."

She frowned, lightly biting her bottom lip, like she was trying not to yell. "I've told you the truth several times. I didn't kill her. And I also gave Nila the ammo back when we spent the night at the barracks.

"You can't prove that!" Ashton yelled out.

She looked over at him. "You also can't prove that I didn't."

He looked like he was going to say something else but he backed off.

"Doesn't that still cast doubt on you?" Jeremy asked.

"..." Mindy looked at him for a few seconds before her expression changed, like she was worried. "What do you mean?"

"Someone could use the excuse that they figured Nila had ammo on her, but if she did have the ammo, you'd know for a fact there would be some shotgun shells." The surfer said.

"!" The thief realized where he was going with this. "No… I…"

It really is her… isn't it… "Mindy… give it up… Nila wouldn't want it to be like this." I looked up at her, and for a second, it looked like she was about to cry.

But before I could even register what I saw, she had her smirking face back on. "What is there to give up? I'm not a murderer, and I would never kill Nila!" Despite having confidence on her face, there seemed to be some hints of nervousness in her voice.

Veronica frowned. "We're not saying you did it purposely…"

She jerked her head to look at the technician. "So what? Are you saying this is some kind of accident?" She was really starting to lose her composure.

"Yes… I think that's what it was… An accident. You ran in there to stop her from killing herself… and somehow… your finger ended up on the trigger." It was hard to say, but it had to be said.

Mindy closed her eyes, averting her gaze. "Even if it was me there, you'd think I'd let that happen." She looked back at me, her gaze piercing me. "I'm pretty good with guns, you know. Especially at handling, I don't think my hand would just slip. And I don't think Nila would try and hurt me to get that to happen. So someone else with less gun experience must have been the one that was there. I wouldn't just let the gun slip."

Let the gun slip… huh… No, I've seen her use guns before. She knows what she's doing. She has a pretty good grip on them. Even with Nila, or more so, especially with Nila, since her life was on the line, I don't think she'd just slip up like that… What could have caused it…?

.

That's when I realized… just how much cruel irony this was…

.

_Mindy walked over to the table and grabbed what appeared to be a bulky looking pistol. I… Don't know much about guns. "Heavy…" She commented, trying to lift it up with one hand, with some difficulty. Eventually, she just gave up and used both hands._

_Nila saw what weapon she picked. "Oh, I would not use that one. It tends to-" And then the sound of Mindy taking a test shot could be heard… As well as her body falling backwards from whatever knockback came with it. "OWW!" She said, getting back up, gripping a part of her arm. The gun lay on the floor. "How can anyone use that?"_

_The soldier walked over to it, picking it up. "Well, through training I guess. No one should use it-"_

"_Wait!" Mindy said, walking over to her. "It was the first time shooting it, let me use it."_

_Now, she seemed concerned. "A-are you sure? You will only hurt yoursel-"_

_She nodded. "The bullets should be powerful enough to pierce metal…" She trailed off. "Hopefully." Reassuring. "Either way, I'll do whatever it takes to save the others."_

.

And also…

.

_Mindy placed down her pistol, grimacing in pain. "Why did I use this gun…"_

"_I told you not too." Nila frowned._

_The thief shook her head. "Not like it really matters, as long as we can save the others."_

_Right, it didn't matter what we did, we just had to keep moving forward._

.

"Mindy…" I said softly… "Your hand slipped, because you've been using that gun."

She froze up, hearing me say that. I was spot on.

"You… you didn't mean to shoot her, your arm probably just got numb and the gun slipped out briefly, trying to stop it from being taken by Nila, you reached out for it again, and… you just so happened to grab the trigger." I explained.

Mindy fell to the ground, holding her head in her hands. A few tears fell down her cheek. "I didn't want to kill her… But she's gone now… and it's all my fault."

Jeremy frowned slightly. "Doesn't matter whether you did it on purpose, or accidentally, the result is still the same."

"Shut up!" She yelled, slowly getting back up.

I frowned too. It pained me… but might as well go over the crime from the beginning…

.

"Act 1: It all started when Monokuma gave the traitor one last mission. They wanted another trial to happen, so they told Nila to kill someone. Getting her final mission, she didn't want anyone else to die, so she grabbed a shotgun and sent a message to the killer. I don't know her reason for that yet, but maybe the killer could enlighten us.

.

Act 2: Nila made her way to the classroom, where she walked in and locked the door. Little did she know, Jared had been following her through the cameras. He was worried about what she might do. But, figuring that there were only a few things one could do with a shotgun, he rushed over to stop her.

.

Act 3: The killer followed the letter and met Nila in the classroom, except they had to pick the lock of the room without alerting Nila, since she might take her own life if she realized they were there. The killer dashed towards her, and managed to knock the shotgun away from Nila's face as the first shot fired.

.

Act 4: They struggled with the shotgun for a bit until one of the killer's injuries started to act up. This caused her to lose grip on the gun, and, in an attempt to grab it again, pulled the trigger. Nila was shot in the face, and the killer was probably devastated. Now, it came time to change the crime scene a little.

.

Act 5: They ripped up the second note Nila wrote, for what reasons? We don't know yet. Reloading the shotgun with the ammo Nila gave them the other day, they waited till they could hear the sound of Jared and I entering the school. They used a chair to smash the window of the door, and then fired a shot at the wall, dropping down the shotgun. And, before we could make it there, they probably slipped out of the window.

.

And this could have only been by you, Mindy Misuto, the Ultimate Ice Sculptor!"

.

Mindy looked away, not really saying anything for a bit.

"What did the note say?" Jared asked.

She looked up at him. "It basically told about how she was the traitor, and she was doing this so no one had to lose their life anymore. She probably detailed a few more things, but it's hard to read when your vision is obscured by tears."

"So nothing else…?" I asked.

Mindy glanced away. "There was one thing, but I don't think it was in the letter… We talk a bit while we fought."

.

"_Nila! Stop this!" Mindy was ready to cry, holding onto the shotgun tightly._

_The soldier tried taking it out of her hands. "No! I need to do this, I can never repay for the awful things I have done in my life."_

_The thief shook her head. "You don't need to repay anything. You can't die! Not this far into this! Not after we avoided the motive!"_

"_But I am the traitor, I was tasked with killing Mason and framing it on Matthew! But I could not do it, so I made Mason kill Matthew. But I did not think he would actually do it."_

.

"Killing Mason, and framing Matthew?" Ashton asked.

Rial glanced away. "Well, apparently Monokuma had reason to get rid of both of them."

"Mason apparently found stuff he wasn't supposed to." Jared started to say. "But Matthew?"

"Doesn't really make sense." The racer scratched the back of his head.

"Either way, there was a reason for it." The sniper glared at Monokuma. "But something tells me he won't tell us."

The bear simply laughed. "You'd be right about me not telling you! Anyways! Isn't it about time we got to the execution?"

"Execution…" Mindy mumbled back, looking at the ground. After a few seconds, she looked up at me. "With the kind of life I've lived, I deserve to go to hell, don't I?"

W-what? Why ask me that… I frowned slightly. No, I didn't think she deserved to go to hell. She's shown she wants to save the others. "No… you do-"

"Don't lie to me." The thief said.

Seemed she wouldn't take any other answer. I thought for a few seconds. "I think the good outweighs the bad. Sure, you and Nila probably did some bad in your lives, but I believe you two are great people." I smiled slightly.

Another tear trailed down her cheek as she looked away.

"Well, might as well get to the execution!" Monokuma said.

Mindy looked at everyone else. "Good luck. Win this one for us."

"I've prepared a very special punishment for Mindy Misuto, the Ultimate Ice Sculptor!" The bear said.

She seemed close to breaking down again. "I…"

"Let's give it everything we've got!" The bear continued.

"I'm… I'm scared…" Mindy started crying again, more so than when she was earlier.

"IT'S... PUNISHMENT TIIIME!"

**Mindy Misuto has been found guilty! Time for punishment!**

.

Mindy appeared to be in what seemed like a museum. She had one goal in mind. Stealing the key to her freedom. However, it didn't seem like it would be easy at all. Because the key of freedom was being watched by many guards, and she could tell there were traps all around it. She let out a small sigh as she climbed up a pillar so she could be higher up. Be a thief… She thought to herself as she jumped over to another pillar, being careful not to fall. She was doing pretty well for now until she fell short on one and bashed her head against the top of the pillar. She plummeted to the ground, almost breaking a bone of hers. But she was fine. Just a little blood from her mouth.

The sounds of guards coming to investigate could be heard so Mindy had to sprint away without even thinking. She didn't know what room she was in, but she knew that she was closer. She could see the room she needed to head to. She saw a vent high up on the wall and got a bright idea. She busted it open and slid herself in. It was a tight squeeze because of her proportions, but she managed.

However, on the way there, Mindy would hear something in the vent. When she glanced around, she saw some creature crawling after her. What the hell? What was something like this doing here? She thought to herself as she crawled away even more.

The thing managed to bite her leg, which caused her to cry out in pain before she muffled it a few seconds later. She kicked the creature in the face a few times before it scurried off. Just what kind of museum was this? She finally reached another vent opening. Luckily, this was right above the treasure. Good, she thought to herself as she removed it.

She took out a rope and slowly tied it to the vent cover, which was still pretty much attached to the vent. Then, holding onto the rope tightly, she lowered herself down. When she finally reached the key, she took out a laser cutter and slowly cut a hole in the glass. Perfect, Mindy thought to herself as she grabbed it. She started to slowly make her way back up the rope. However, things weren't that easy. The creature from before was up there, and it started to chew the rope, causing it to snap.

Mindy fell all the way down, probably breaking something again. She held onto the key tightly as she rolled on the floor, activating the laser sensors. She quickly got up, running for the exit. The guards all started to shoot at the thief, but she managed to avoid them barely.

Once she reached the entrance, she figured the doors were locked, so she did the next best thing and jumped through the window. It wasn't the best option as she was cut up a lot. Her bleeding had increased. She was breathing heavily. She mustered some strength to slowly look up.

Around the premise, were several police cars, with all of the officers aiming their guns at her. She tried to bolt away, but got shot in the leg, falling to the ground. She quickly tried to get up again and run off. But she was only met with more bullets as she got riddled with them. Gurgling blood, she leaned her back against the wall of a building. She leaned down, leaving a trail of blood on the wall.

After some more bleeding, she dropped the key, which was carried away by her stream of blood and into the sewer. And then, she was lifeless.

.

We all stood around somberly. We had to watch someone else die…

"Puhuhuhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. "Another one gone, now what will you do?"

"Shut up!" Ashton yelled out. He turned around and started to walk away. "I'm not going to deal with your bullshit anymore!" And he left to head to the elevator.

Right… we shouldn't have to deal with this anymore.

"We need to end this soon…" Veronica said.

Jared nodded. "I won't allow another one of us to die. It's now or never."

The bear simply laughed again. "Good luck with that!"

The rest of us made our way to the elevator.

It slowly rode up, and I was left alone with my thoughts. We had been cut down to only six people. We had started with seventeen… We tried to stop his motives before, but that just led to this. Can we really do something this time?

And then… that's when another earthquake happened.


	12. Chapter 6: Heart Of Corruption Part 1

It was dark. Had I been knocked out by the earthquake? We were kinda in an elevator at the time.

.

.

.

I stood in a dark field. Or, at least a field of shadows, I was surrounded by four people, but couldn't quite make out what they looked like. The first person actually had other people standing behind them, like they lead them. The second person, this one was to my left. They pulled out what appeared to be a weird pistol and aimed it at me. The third person was on my right, and they appeared to be the only person who wasn't just cast in shadow. Or, at least this shadow was blood red. And finally, the person behind me was walking amongst what looked like corpses, but they seemed unfazed.

Suddenly… I was jolted awake.

.

"Gregory!" Someone yelled out. I slowly opened my eyes to see Ashton standing over me. "Oh, you're alive! There was an awful earthquake, and we almost got trapped in the elevator.

I quickly looked around, worried. "And the others?" I spotted the others standing a little away. They only seemed to have a few scratches.

"Well, that was fun." Jeremy said, seeming to have the most scratches.

"What's going on with this place." Veronica looked around as another earthquake happened, this one wasn't as powerful.

Rial glanced away. "We need to find a safe place…"

Jared nodded. "I think that's wise too."

Suddenly.

Bear.

"None of this would have happened if you'd all just have died when I wanted to!" He seemed rather angry at us. "But no, you just had to fight back against the robots."

Ashton clenched his fist. "What's happening?"

"Well, I can't tell you that!" The bear said. "Just know you probably won't be alive for very long." He started to laugh.

"W-what?" Veronica asked. "What do you mean we won't be alive for very long."

"This place is probably going to start collapsing now. Puhuhuhuhu! Since there's not much you can do, I'll allow you anywhere you want in here. But you won't like what you find!" And with that, he vanished.

"Dammit Monokuma!" Ashton yelled out.

"He seems pretty confident in himself." Rial said, looking around. "But I do have a few places I want to check out." And with that, she left. The others kinda agreed to go check out places they thought anything important might be. I was heading out on my way when suddenly, someone placed their hand on my shoulder. I turned over to look at who it was.

"I don't really know where to go, so I guess I'll go with you." It was Ashton.

"Huh… that's fine, I guess." I replied.

He smiled. "Anywhere you wanted to go?"

I thought for a few seconds. "There was one thing… I wanted to check out the incinerator again. Rial and I saw something in it, but it was too hot to grab last time. A few hours should have passed, so it should be fine now." I started heading that way.

The racer stood still for a few seconds before following me. "A key? Like one of the room keys?"

I nodded. "That's what it looks like. I know it's not mine." I pulled mine out.

Ashton then pulled his out. "You think it belongs to one of the four others?"

"Maybe, but I don't know what it means yet…" I said. After a few minutes of walking, we finally arrived at the incinerator. I quickly touched the side of it, and it was cold. "It should be fine."

"I've got it!" Ashton yelled out as he grabbed it. He pulled it out, and after a few seconds, he dropped it. "You lied! It's still hot!"

That's weird… "It's been off for a while, that's much for sure. The incinerator is cold."

"Well, it wasn't hot at first, but then it started to heat up." He rubbed the back of his head, with the hand he burnt, which only seemed to make it hurt more. "Why did I do that?"

"Hmm…" Then, I seemed to remember something I hadn't even put any thought into before.

.

"_What's more, do you know how the keys work?" He asked._

_I remained silent for a bit. Is he seriously asking me how a… "Of course I know how a key wor-"_

_Mason shook his head. "Not how a key works. How these ones work!"_

_He had lost me. "What does that mean…?"_

"_Toss me your key!" He called out with his left hand extended, ready to catch._

_Reluctantly, I took out my key and tossed it to him._

_He caught it, but after a short while, a burning sound could be heard. "It's weird…" He said. "The keys seem to burn you if it's not your key." He tossed the key back to me, which I caught. He showed a burn mark on his left hand. "Anyone will know if you tried to sneak into someone's room."_

_I put my key back in my pocket. "How did you know this?"_

_He showed me his right hand. It also had a burn mark. "I tried to steal Denise's key. Didn't go well."_

.

That was a weird thing to have the keys do. "Well, we should probably use something to grab it so we don't burn our hands."

"Got it!" Ashton yelled out, ripping part of his sleeve, which seemed difficult because it wasn't regular fabric. But he did it anyway. "Got it!"

I nodded. "Next order of business is to figure out who's key this is." Which means we should probably head back to all the rooms.

"Yeah, if someone placed it here, then maybe the room is hiding something." The racer agreed.

We both started to make our way back to the main area.

"Do you really think one of us is doing this?" Ashton asked on our way back.

One of us… doing all of this? It's hard to believe, but it's probably the truth. But then again, it could just be someone who we haven't met yet, and I'm hoping for that to be true.

Soon, we passed by the ferris wheel, and we saw Jeremy loitering around. He didn't seem to be doing much.

He turned and noticed us. He waved at us with a smile.

Suddenly, another earthquake happened, and I feared the worst based on where we were standing.

One of the compartments of the ferris wheel came off and was slowly falling down towards Jeremy.

"Jeremy!" Ashton and I yelled out, trying to get him out of the way. We were too far to really do anything.

He looked up to see it falling down towards him, but he didn't seem too concerned. And then, it seemingly landed right on him.

I froze for a few seconds before he walked out from the other side.

"I'm fine!" He smiled, like he didn't almost just die.

I was still frozen in fear at what I almost just witnessed.

"What the hell man!?" Ashton yelled out. "You could have died!"

He simply shrugged. "But I didn't, so it's fine, right?" He crossed his arms. "Anyways." He turned around and started to walk away.

I didn't understand him one bit.

"Let's not worry about that, we've got a key mystery to solve." Ashton said as he continued to walk towards the rooms.

Soon, we made it.

The racer gripped onto the key tightly. "Alright, let's go, process of elimination." We tried a bunch of doors for a bit, until eventually, the key fit in perfectly on the thirteenth door. "Got it!" The racer smirked.

"Who's room is this?" I asked him.

He thought for a bit, looking at all the previous ones we had tried. "Wait, isn't this… Talia's?" He slowly turned the key as the door unlocked.

Opening it, we were met with a sight.

The whole place seemed to have been torn up. Her bed was flipped upside down. Her pillow was ripped open. It's like a storm passed through here. Or… "Someone was searching for something…" I stepped in.

"Searching for something? Ashton repeated. "What could Talia have that's of value?"

"This place is a mess." A voice from behind us said. We turned to look at who it was to see Jeremy. "I had nothing to do, so I followed you two." His eyes looked around. "Oh…" He said, looking up at the corner. "She noticed too, huh."

I glanced over at the corner of her room, towards the ceiling. I noticed a small portion of tape in the corner. "What's there?"

Ashton walked over to, and getting on the desk, managed to reach the tape to pull it off. Looking at it for a few seconds, realized what it was. "It's a camera!"

A camera?

Jeremy nodded. "It's a camera, but it's not like the other ones we've seen around here."

"The others…?" I asked.

"The ones that Jared uses, they are pretty distinct and stand out. But these ones, they seem to be more obscure, and are probably routed differently. Jared probably doesn't know about them. I never mentioned it, nor did Talia, it seems." The surfer said.

"Well, she covered it, so she must have figured out that it was there." I said.

Ashton got off the desk. "But still, is that any reason to raid this room?"

Good question. There seems to be much more to this than first meets the eye.

"Well, we might as well search this place from top to bottom!" The racer said as he started looking through everything. It felt like he was just going to make the room look worse than it already is… But, then again, we had to look just in case. "But, it's possible that they already found what they were looking for."

Jeremy tilted his head slightly, crossing his arms. "True, but whoever was looking seemed to be getting frustrated."

We searched for what felt like a really long time before we slowly realized that whatever it was they were looking for, was probably taken by them.

Jeremy let out a sigh. "This was a huge waste of time…"

"Dammit!" Ashton yelled out as he punched the wall in front of him. His fist actually went through it and got caught in it.

"... Dammit!" He yelled as he ripped his hand out, bringing a small portion of the wall with him, revealing that there was something behind it. "Huh…?" He walked over to it. There was another key, and also what looked like an old ragged journal.

"Huh, that journal isn't really Talia's style." The surfer noted.

I slowly grabbed the journal, choosing to ignore the key for now. I slowly opened it, and noticed that it lacked a name. Oh well. I flipped to the first page that had any text on it.

.

Day 1.

Date: Unknown.

.

The last thing I remember is walking into the school, and my vision fading. Then, after that, I found myself awake inside a classroom with sixteen other people. Not all of them had awoken yet, so I mostly stayed to myself. Once everyone awoke, I watched them talk before I finally joined in. I needed to see what the others would say. There was one girl who hadn't spoken, but I didn't get any bad vibes from her.

Then, everything faded again, and when we awoke, our location had changed. We were now in an amusement park. It was a rather nice setting, if I do say so myself. After discussing what to do, we all split off into different groups to explore the place.

I went with three people; Jerry, Nila, and Talia.

We arrived at the center of this area, which seemed to have a fountain.

.

"_That's a nice looking fountain." Jerry said as he hopped onto the edge of it, balancing himself on it._

_Talia crossed her arms. "Don't fall into the water."_

_He simply laughed a little. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."_

_I walked over to the fountain. "Intriguing…" I mumbled._

"_What is?" Nila asked, standing behind me._

_I knelt down beside the fountain. Some of the parts seemed like they could separate from each other easily. That probably means that this can be opened up. I stood up, shaking my head. "It was nothing."_

_The silver soldier frowned slightly. "Are you sure, you seemed troubled for a bit."_

_I nodded, walking away from the fountain. "Yup, I'm sure." I glanced back at it._

_The little juggler eventually slipped and fell into the water._

"_Ah!" Nila yelled, running over to him. "Are you OK?"_

_He nodded. "It's not that deep._

_I shook my head slightly. "What a weird bunch of people we've been paired with."_

"_I'd put you in that category too." Talia said to me._

_I chuckled slightly. "That's fair. I've been told I'm a little out there." I looked around. I noticed that there was stuff beyond the walls. But they seemed blocked off by gates. "Well, all we can do is wait and see what happens." I glanced over and saw two people approaching. It was Katrine and the person who hadn't woken up yet. Glad to see he was up now._

.

After that, things went South pretty fast. We had all gathered for a meeting that Jared wanted to do. Well, almost all of us, Jennifer didn't show up till later. But, during the meeting, someone unfortunate showed up. He looked like a bear that was trying to be a panda, but didn't know how one looked. Rial shot him, but the bear seemed to come back, so it was useless. He introduced himself as Monokuma, and invited us to play a game, Saw style. Or, well, more so just a killing game. If we kill someone and get away with it, we'll be free to go. Looking at everyone, there seemed to be a few people who would take him up on that offer. Soon, we eventually agreed to head to the cottages to rest on the information we learned.

.

Day 2:

Date: Unknown

.

Not much of note happened today, except for the fact we tried to have another meeting that once again got interrupted by Monokuma. That's when he announced that two Ultimate Attractions had opened up. Feeling a little curious, we split up into two groups to go explore them. While some of us just went back to the cabins. My group consisted of Ashton, Gregory, Jared, Jennifer, and myself. But not too soon after, Ashton and Gregory left to go do other things.

.

_I walked over to where Jared was sitting, looking at the cameras. "Well, you sure you'll be able to keep track of the entire place with these?"_

_He hesitated for a bit. "Maybe not all the places. I can't see inside the rooms, and while I'm thankful for that, because that would be evasion of privacy, it also means I wouldn't be able to see if someone was killed there."_

_I slowly nodded. "That's true." I noticed something off about the cameras. "Hmm… That's not the only problem."_

_The cop seemed a little confused before he glanced around at the cameras. "What are you…?"_

_Jennifer walked up to us. "Why does it only show us eleven of the seventeen cabins?"_

_Jared stopped for a second before he started to count the amount of cabins. "There's missing six cabins!"_

_I nodded, with a small smirk. "Seems you don't get to see everything."_

_This just seemed to aggravate him. "How am I supposed to do my job like this?"_

_The mysterious blonde shook her head. "I'll cover the ground you can't."_

_The cop looked at her. "Cover the ground I can't?"_

_She nodded. "I'll hang around any area you can't see to make sure nothing happens."_

_I stroked my chin. "And how can we make sure you won't do anything…?"_

_Jennifer glared at me. "Like I'd do anything like that; I'm trying to keep everyone alive."_

_I slowly nodded. "Fair enough." I turned around to walk away. "Well, leave me out if this ever comes up. I'd rather not be mentioned by the people who know."_

_The mysterious blonde nodded. "Same with me."_

"_But… I don't see how that's fair-" Jared started to say._

_But I had already left the room. Things were getting interesting already._

.

Day 3

Date: Unknown

.

Nothing of value happened today, but I think I'll still find the time to write down something. So far, no one really strikes me out as suspicious, besides maybe Jennifer, but that's pretty much it. As she said, she spent some time at night walking around. It felt somewhat dangerous to be walking alone at night like that, but I asked to accompany her. She quickly refused. Weird.

.

Day 4

Date: Unknown

.

Monokuma seemed to be stepping up the game now, deciding to give us a motive. If we killed someone, he would grant us one question. Which is pretty weak on it's own. But he alluded that something might have befallen our families, or even the world. And that does raise a few questions. But still, none of us would kill, right? After breakfast, we all split up and went our own ways. I noticed Veronica seemed to be looking for something.

.

_I walked over to her. "Hey Veronica, are you looking for something?"_

_She jumped slightly, not seeing me approach her. "Oh, just looking for one of my tools. I seemed to have misplaced it."_

_I slowly nodded. "A misplaced tool? Is this for your technician job?"_

_The tech girl slowly nodded. "Yes, it is. I just like carrying it around, especially at a time like this."_

"_Oh, how come?" I asked._

_Her expression grew much more serious. "Incase I need to hit someone with it to defend myself."_

_I slowly nodded. "Ah, I see. Makes sense." I looked at her for a few seconds to see what else I could gather from her expression._

"_W-why are you staring at me like that?" She covered her face slightly._

_I shook my head. "It's nothing…" I kept walking._

.

After that, there wasn't much that happened that day.

.

Day 5

Date: Unknown

.

It finally happened, tragedy had struck. Someone had died. I was awoken by a terrible sound, followed by two Monokuma Announcements. The second one, was that a body had been discovered. Quickly making my way out of my room, I made it to where the incident happened. By the time I got there, almost everyone else was there. And whatever fire was there, had already been put out. The person that was murdered, was Jennifer. Monokuma appeared, and after talking for a bit, he left, and we were free to explore. I headed back to the Ultimate Officer Attraction because I needed to check something.

.

_I opened the door and saw Jared furiously typing on the keyboard. "Dammit!" He yelled out._

"_Having problems?" I asked him._

_He quickly turned to me, having not seen me come in. "Yes. Something like that." He looked back at the monitors. "I was only gone for a short period of time, yet, something like this was able to happen?"_

_I walked over to the monitors. "You can't expect to be able to stop everything."_

"_But I'm not expecting myself to stop everything. In fact, I haven't stopped a single thing." I guess my words weren't helping him much._

_I shook my head. "You don't need to be the hero."_

_He gritted his teeth. "That's all I've ever known…"_

_Suddenly, the door opened, and Gregory walked in._

.

The rest of the events were kinda a blur. Since a few hours were spent simply on the trial. It would be pointless to write down every little thing that happened, so I'll just mention that Richard was the one who did it. And Jared kept his promise of not telling the others that Jennifer and I knew about the blind spots. Although the former doesn't matter anymore. She died, and we never got to know her Ultimate Talent… And then, we had to see Richard be executed. Everyone was put off by it. Although, there were a few people who weren't. Mason seemed to watch it like it was entertainment. But to me, it seemed much more like an act. Mindy didn't really seem to care. Like she was just happy it wasn't her. Jeremy didn't seem bothered that much. And Rial, who used this as an opportunity to warn everyone of the futility of killing anyone to escape. After that, everyone didn't want to stay up and went to their cabins. We lost two people today. Hopefully, we don't lose anymore…

.

Day 6

Date: Unknown

.

It was the day after the incident had happened. Where we lost two people from our group. We were now only fifteen people left. How many more would be lost, I wonder.

It wasn't long before Jerry came in, telling us about a new area that had opened up. Hoping to find a way out, we all decided to head out. It was a nice water themed area. We split off into groups again. This time, my group consisted of Ashton, Mason, and Rial.

.

"_We should go swimming!" Mason said eagerly._

_Rial just sent an annoyed glance at him. "Or, you know, we can actually try to look around."_

_Ashton crossed his arms. "Well, I think we _should _swim a little. Get our minds off things."_

"_It won't help." He said._

_The stubborn racer shook his head. "Don't tell me…" Seems he had discovered something._

"_W-what…?" Rial asked._

"_That you…" He looked up at him. "Are afraid of water."_

_This just made him more annoyed _

"_Forget him!" Mason said as he walked towards the changing room._

_I followed the boy into the changing room. Before I went to the pool, I just wanted to look around the place a bit._

_Nothing really struck me out of the ordinary when I first entered. But upon glancing around the room a little, I realized that there seemed to be something missing. Or more so a name. But it was probably Richard's. No point in looking. Might ruin whatever mystery that's being set up._

…

_I looked around anyway. And noticed that Rial's name was missing. And also that he didn't follow us into the changing room. I looked at the others. This probably meant something, but I wasn't going to bring it up to them anytime soon. Might as well keep this info to myself for now._

.

The rest of the day was mostly normal. We all gathered at the Ultimate Waitress Attraction for some lunch. Everyone was there but Katrine, who had gone to dye her hair. I spoke with Gregory for a bit over who he found suspicious. He seemed like someone I could trust. He mentioned Mindy, but I don't think the Thief of the Mist has any involvement with what's going on. She doesn't seem like a bad person. Although she wouldn't directly show herself being good.

.

Day 7

Date: Unknown

.

Not much happened today except that at night, a group of girls went swimming, and some of the guys tried to go too, but was blocked off by Rial, who stood guard at the door. Which reminds me, I'm going to need to talk to him… or her… soon. But, I don't like revealing other people's secrets to others, so I'll keep it to myself for now.

.

Day 8

Date: Unknown

.

Well, this day started off interesting. And by interesting, I mean some sort of disease spread around. The bear referred to it as the Opposite Disease. It takes a personality trait of yours, and reverses it. The four people infected this morning seems to be Rial, Veronica, Nila, and Jared. I'm not on the last one because we didn't see him, but no one else was infected. Rial was way too nice now that it was weird. Veronica now had confidence. And Nila seemed to have become a killing machine again. She tried to attack us, but most of us fled before things could happen. I don't know how the others dealt with her, but they appeared to be fine. We all met up at Talia's Ultimate Attraction. We spent the rest of the day eating and playing card games. There wasn't much we could do. And soon, it was night time. But… I couldn't sleep, and soon, I saw someone get up and left. I only realized they left because they dropped something and it made some noise. I picked it up and put it in my pocket. Whoever left the safety of this building was either stupid, or fearless.

.

_I followed them around until they stopped walking. They seemed to know they were being followed. "What do you want?" The person said. The person was Jeremy._

"_I was just wondering what you were doing outside. You know, especially with two potentially dangerous people outside." I crossed my arms._

_He glanced away. "Like I would fear anyone. The worst they can do is kill me, and who says that's bad?"_

_I stared at the fearless surfer for a few seconds. "You don't fear death?"_

"_Why should I?" Jeremy asked me. "Everyone dies someday. It's inevitable. What's the point of being sad, or scared over it?"_

"_You don't value your own life?" I asked him._

_He simply put up a smile. "What value is there in my life?"_

_I looked at him with a small frown on my face before I took something out of my pocket. "I assume this is yours." I tossed it to him._

_Jeremy caught it, quickly putting it in his pocket. "Thanks…" He mumbled. And with that, he left._

.

Day 9

Date: Unknown

.

When I woke up, like the bear said, other people were infected. In this case, Miranda had developed a drinking problem of sorts. And… it didn't take much for her to get tipsy. Then, around that time, Jeremy returned from what he was doing. Seems he's been out for a while. He told us Nila wouldn't be a problem, and he showed us what he meant. Nila was tied up. Someone had bested her, and managed to tie her up. It could be that Jared did it so she wouldn't hurt anyone. Or maybe Monokuma himself did it. It's hard to tell. We decided to split up to look for Jared, worried that he was infected now, since we were missing two people who had been infected. I grouped up with Katrine and Gregory, and wouldn't you know it. We found him. Or, moreso he found us. He almost killed Katrine with an explosion, but she was fine. Only lost a contact lense. After that, we went to find Veronica. Then, we gathered back up at the restaurant, where Nila was being tied up. Miranda was too busy crying that no one loved her. Besides that, nothing else happened. Although, it seems that Mason might also be infected. He's acting way too nice.

.

Day 10

Date: Unknown

.

I awoke when the regular Monokuma Morning Announcement played. Or, at least it seemed like the regular one. Turns out he was actually in the restaurant. He basically told us to go explore outside instead of staying cooped up in the restaurant. We all left, except Denise, who seemed to stay to keep a watch on Nila. Then, we split off into smaller groups. I was going to go with Katrine and Gregory, but Mindy joined up with them instead, so I had to find a different group. In the end, I just ended up going off on my own. Mindy seemed to be infected, but there was still one person missing who could be infected.

.

Day 11

Date: Unknown

.

When we awoke, Jeremy was the bearer of bad news as Nila had escaped. Not just that, but Rial had left too. So we had at least two missing people. Mindy suggested looking around her Ultimate Attraction, but it was obvious she just wanted to show off her work. Once there, we saw that there were six sculptors. But according to the thief herself, she had only make five. And she did. The sixth one was Jerry, who had been frozen alive. I noticed something near the body, and made my way over to the body like I was inspecting it. I picked it up, but it burned my skin, despite being below zero here. I took a quick glance at it before stuffing it in my pocket. It was a key. Did it belong to Jerry? I did not know. Then, Monokuma showed up to tell us that everyone who was infected is no longer infected. Which Mason dropped the bomb that he was never infected to begin with. I will save most of the details of the investigation and trial because they aren't important, and it's hard to write in here while all that's going on. But, Monokuma did reveal who was infected. Jared, Jeremy, Jerry, Mindy, Miranda, Nila, Rial, and Veronica. That was an interesting list, because Jeremy didn't appear infected. He himself didn't even know. Not just that, but Monokuma said he tried to infect him, but it didn't work. I will need to remember this for later. In the end, the murder turned out to be an accident caused by Katrine's luck, which seemed to be more rooted in bad luck than good luck. But luck is luck. In the end, she accepted her fate. At least now, I think I had a good idea who the key belonged to. I walked over to her room and put the key in, and, yeah. It worked.

.

_I slowly turned the door handle. But then a voice called out to me._

"_What are you doing?" Someone asked._

_I glanced over at them, and saw Talia crossing her arms._

_I didn't really have an answer that sounded too great. "Just exploring." I said._

_She didn't buy that one bit. "Sounds like something a creep would say."_

"_Oh, so now I'm a creep. No, I was just thinking if I ever needed to hold a meeting with someone I trust, I wouldn't do it in my own room." I told her. For some reason, Talia was definitely one of the people I see as trustworthy. Even though we haven't spoken much._

"_And you are telling me this why…?" She asked me._

_Granted, I didn't need to trust her with that information. "I don't really know why."_

_She glanced around to see if anyone was nearby. "Well, I might have been heading out to talk to you about something, so let's get in the room and keep this meeting brief." She walked past me in the room._

_She wanted to talk to me about something? I followed her in._

_Talia moved over a chair to the corner of the room, standing up on it._

"_What are you doing?" I asked._

"_You want a private meeting or not?" She took some tape out and tapped the corner of the ceiling._

_I crossed my arms. "Yes, I do. So what are you doing?"_

_She went from standing on the chair to sitting on it. "There are cameras in the room. And some mics. But they aren't too high quality,"_

_I looked at her. "How can you tell the camera qualit-"_

"_Don't ask, and I won't tell." She simply said. "Anyways, I'm here to talk about what Monokuma said."_

"_He's said a lot of things, you'll have to be more specific." I asked._

_She rolled her eyes. "About there being eight people infected."_

_I nodded. "He even told us who they were."_

"_But, before that, he said he only cured six people." Talia said. "Jerry was someone who wasn't cured, because there was no reason to cure him. But that means someone else is still infected. Or… was never actually infected to begin with."_

_What did she mean by that? "Someone was never actually infected? It could just be that he never cured Jeremy."_

_She slowly nodded. "Yeah, that could be the case. But it's still such a weird thing. What if whoever wasn't actually infected is the one pulling the strings?"_

_That… sounds interesting. "So, someone pretending to be infected. But why would Monokuma only say six if it would reveal information."_

"_That, I don't know. The theory is still a work in progress." She frowned slightly. _

_I looked down at the ground. "I think I'd need to give it some consideration."_

_She nodded as she slowly got up. "I'll meet you here whenever I think of something new." And with that, she left…_

.

Day 12

Date: Unknown

.

Like usual, a new area opened up, and we all decided to go check it out. This one seemed to be more horror themed. Although, it was kinda hard to see where we were going. But, luck would have it, and I ended up at my own Ultimate Attraction.

.

_I looked around the place, inspecting the set. It was rather basic compared to some other sets I had. Suddenly, standing before me was a masked figure. But they weren't fooling anyone. "Nice try Denise."_

_She took off her mask, a little disappointed. "You're no fun."_

"_That, I am not." I agreed with her._

"_There's a lot of masks here." She said with a smirk._

_I looked at the pile of masks at the side. "What, do you have a thing for masks."_

"_I just think they're neat." She replied._

_I shook my head. No time to waste doing this. I made my way further into the building. It seemed weird, it was bigger from the outside. Which was something odd, compared to how it normally is. I walked over to a wall. There was clearly something wrong about this. "Hey, Denise, help me out here."_

_She walked over to me. "What do you need my help with?"_

"_This wall seems fake." I commented._

_She looked at it for a few seconds. "I wouldn't say the wall is fake, but there's definitely something behind the wall paper."_

_I looked at her. "Something behind the wallpaper?"_

_She nodded, finding a tear in the wall. Ripping it, revealed there was some paper behind the wall. One of them seemed to be of the haunted house. I saw a blink of something before it was snatched away._

"_Dibs!" Mason said, holding whatever was there._

"_Hey!" Denise shouted out reaching to try and grab him. But he was too quick, and he was already gone._

_I shook my head. "It's not worth it…" I glanced away. Hiding things behind wallpaper, huh?_

.

The rest of the day was uneventful, besides Monokuma mentioning some sort of event happening tomorrow.

.

Day 13

Date: December 3rd

.

Today was the day of the event. And what a bothersome day it would be. Although, we didn't get called out till much later. We were asked to make our way to the haunted mansion. The first group to go up was Gregory, Jeremy, Miranda, and Veronica. And a few seconds after they entered the building, all we heard was screaming and laughter. Reassuring. After a while, it was our turn, and we found out why they screamed so loudly. A trap door opened up and we fell to the bottom of the haunted mansion.

.

_I slowly woke up, rubbing my head. How did the fall not kill us?_

"_Oww…" Mindy mumbled as she stumbled around, almost falling down. "That was rude…"_

"_Way more than rude!" Ashton yelled out. "We could have died."_

_Rial walked over to a door. "Oh, stop complaining…" He opened the door. "Let's just get out of here."_

_The rest walked on ahead of me while I was still gaining my conscience._

"_Are you OK?" Nila asked me, helping me get up._

_I slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling better now."_

_She smiled sweetly. "Then let us rejoin with the others." She walked off._

_I shook my head as I followed. The place was dimly lit, but still enough to see. Nothing of interest until we reached what seemed to be a well of sorts. Or, a bottomless pit._

"_Isn't it weird?" Ashton asked. "You'd think Monokuma would talk to us."_

_I slowly nodded. "It is rather strange. Some event."_

"_Let's just get out of here." Mindy said as she kept walking. Nila and Ashton followed suit._

_I glanced down the bottomless pit, staring for a few seconds, until suddenly… I could see a faint light. Was there something at the bottom of this pit?_

"_Are you coming?" Rial asked as he started to walk away._

_Well, now was as good as any to ask. "Rial… are you a girl?"_

_He stopped walking, quickly turning towards me. "W-what?"_

"_Someone told me." I informed him._

_He froze up. "Mason, that little prick, he said he wou-"_

"_Just kidding." I said. "I saw your name was missing in the guy's changing room."_

_She froze up again. "I have half a mind to break your arms."_

_I walked past her. "Go right ahead. It won't help you in the long wrong. Not like I'll tell anyone. But don't keep it a secret forever." I then left to search for the stairs._

_The next few floors were rather boring. Until we got to a floor that was full of darkness. This was the one where I remember seeing something interesting. Heading away from the group, I made my way to a long hallway. And, at the end. There seemed to be a door at the end. Except the lock didn't seem like something I could get through._

"_What are you doing here?" A voice asked._

_I turned around and could faintly see blonde hair. So it seemed to be Mindy. "Hey, as the Thief of the Mis-" I started to say._

"_H-how did you-" She blurted out._

_I stared at her for a few seconds. "I just want to know if you can pick this lock."_

_She walked over to it, looking at. "I don't even have to try to tell you I can't." She shook her head._

_I frowned slightly. "That's what I thought. Oh well, it's fine."_

_There was some silence. "Do you know how to get back to the main area from here?" She asked._

"_I do not." We spent some time finding our way back._

.

Then, when we made it to the top, Monokuma announced that someone had been doing some snooping around, and gave that as our next motive. That the person should watch out for whatever comes for them. It was clear to me that it was either me, or Mason. He also mentioned that the date was December 3rd, which was apparently the day before Talia's birthday. Then, we all headed out. Jared wanted to set something up for Talia, it seemed.

.

Day 14

Date: December 4th

.

Today was Talia's birthday, and we all contributed in setting up the cafeteria for a birthday party. Some of us went to the kitchen to cook up some food while the others set up the main room. I was in charge of setting up decorations with Ashton. And we made pretty good work. Soon, Denise came back with Talia and the party started. However, it wasn't long before Mindy and Talia started fighting. Being done with it, the waitress left. Denise followed her to cheer her up, and after a few seconds, I followed suit. I needed to talk to her about something. But, on my way to her room, I saw a note on my door. I picked it up. A meeting at the haunted house? Hmm… I don't think it was from Talia, but I have business there anyways. I crumpled up the paper and made it to her room, knocking on the door.

.

_Denise opened the door. "What do you want?"_

_I crossed my arms. "I've come to talk to Talia about something."_

_She looked at me like I was bothersome. "I don't think-"_

"_Let him in." Talia said._

_Denise turned to look at her before letting me in. "I'm guessing you want me to leave?" She started to leave._

_I thought back to earlier. "Actually, you think you could hide something in the wall paper?"_

_She looked at me. "Hide something in the wallpaper? Like what?"_

_I shook my head. "Doesn't matter. Just a compartment to hide something in."_

_She frowned slightly before walking over to the wall. "Give me about half an hour."  
It took less than that, as she made a nice hole in the wall that could store something in it. "I'll be right back, I just need some wallpaper."_

_I shook my head. "I'll get the same wallpaper myself." I left and headed to Katrine's room where I got some wallpaper. Then, I went back to Talia's room._

_Denise took the wallpaper segment, and in a matter of minutes, the wall looked fine. "Just peel here." She peeled part of it before placing it back. "Anyways, I think I'll be heading off now." She left._

_I waited for a few moments after she left before turning towards her. I took out the key. "Shall we?"_

_Talia nodded. We made our way to Katrine's room, our usual meeting place. "What is it this time?"_

"_I think the person who Monokuma is after is Mason." I told her._

"_Oh, and here I thought it was you, you better step up your game." She smirked slightly._

_I shook my head slightly. "Denise and I found something yesterday, but we didn't get to have a good look at it before Mason snatched it. It looked like some blueprints left behind."_

_She looked at me quizzically. "Blueprints? Why would those be left behind? And where?"_

"_In the wallpaper, Denise noticed that the wall was a little weird and ripped it open. As for why they were there, I don't know. It doesn't seem like something the Mastermind would do." I told her._

_She frowned slightly, looking at the ground. "So then, who would keep those there? Maybe whoever built this place originally?"_

_I thought some more. "It's possible that this place was constructed just for us. If that's the case, someone who helped build this might have kept that there for us to find."_

"_For us to find?" She asked._

_I nodded. "The mastermind probably didn't know about it, because if they did, they wouldn't be there anymore." I glanced off to the side. "Before Mason snatched them, I managed to catch a glance at the one from the haunted house, which showed a section behind a wall. I went to investigate and there was a door that was locked by some sort of weird mechanism. Mindy couldn't even pick it." I glanced away. "Not that she tried."_

"_We can go check it out tomorrow morning." She suggested._

_I nodded. "I have to go there for other reasons." I said, remembering the note._

.

I finished writing all of this into my journal. And, I decided I was going to give her my journal, and the key to this room. In case something happened to me tomorrow. If I stop writing, this means I died. Hopefully, that isn't the case.

.

That was it, that was the last entry to the journal. It was clear that this had to be Matthew. "He wrote all of this… huh…" I glanced over at Ashton, who was deep in thought.

"That's a lot of information to take in…" He said. He turned around to look at Jeremy, but… "He's gone."

I glanced back, and sure enough, Jeremy was no longer there. "Why did he leave…?"

The racer shook his head. "Beats me, but we should probably leave." He started walking off.

I followed him before my foot kicked something. I glanced down and saw a small bottle. I picked it up, looking at it. It seemed to be some sort of medication. But the label was ripped off. What was this doing in Talia's room? Did she have something that requires medication? There were also still several pills left in the bottle. It probably hadn't been used in a while.

"You coming, Gregory?" Ashton asked me, turning to look at me.

I quickly stuffed the bottle in my pocket. "Yeah, let's go." I walked out of the room. I had also taken the journal and key with me. I don't think anything of use was in Katrine's room, or else he would have mentioned it in the journal. "I think we should head over to the horror land. There's a few things we need to check up on."

He slowly nodded. "Yeah, seems there were a few secrets there."

We walked for a bit, eventually making it to the horror land.

"Where should we head first?" Ashton asked me.

I thought for a few seconds. "Let's head over to the Ultimate Sniper Attraction. When Rial and I went to investigate there earlier, there seemed to be an area opened up in the back."

The racer nodded. "Then that sounds like the perfect place!"

On the way there, we passed by the graveyard. And once again, I found myself looking for a new grave. For Mindy's that is. But, I didn't find it. Instead, in front of Nila's, were some tools. That's probably what I briefly saw last time. They seemed familiar, until I remembered…

They were Mindy's. I've seen them when she was working on statues for her Ultimate Attraction. So… she's been the one adding the names, huh?

It wasn't the first time she did that. She made some of Jennifer and Richard after they died. And, even tried to make some of all of us. I hadn't gone to check in a while, but there were probably some of a bunch of people now. That's just how she was. She was a thief, but I think she cared deeply about everyone. I frowned slightly. And we lost her only a few hours ago…

Ashton stood beside me, frowning. "We shouldn't waste too much time here…"

I slowly nodded. "Yeah, you're right." I turned around and walked away. For everyone, we were going to end this.


	13. Chapter 6: Heart Of Corruption Part 2

We finally made it to Rial's Ultimate Attraction. And luckily for us, the door to it was open. We walked inside, and at the far back, Rial was in the room. She seemed to be staring frozen at the article. We walked over to her. "Rial, are you fine?"

She dropped the paper, turning quickly to us. "Of course. Monokuma isn't here. So we're free to explore this back room."

The room itself was rather small. But most of the stuff looked like it had been taken. Not to mention that the room was a little bit destroyed. Like someone was searching for something… I'm starting to see a pattern. I walked up to the articles that Rial had. There were three of them, just like Mason had mentioned. This was definitely what he found.

The first one was about a school shooting of sorts.

.

_Only hours ago, at CWA, there were reports of a student wielding a gun, shooting several students, injuring 10, killing 25, including a few teachers. Surveillance was down at the time, which couldn't have been a coincidence. But that means that they couldn't get video evidence. A young boy jumped in to save the day, disarming the assailant, and shooting him back. He did not survive. The boy was brought in for questioning, but after a few hours, he was let go. Names haven't been disclosed at this time._

.

I stared at the article for a few seconds. Well, I don't see how that helps out with our current situation… But maybe only one of these articles are important. Moving onto the next one, the one Mason said was useless and held nothing interesting.,,

.

_A notorious crime leader was found dead in his home. He was shot in the face, as well as two of his kids, which were only 9, and 11. It is unknown who did it, but more digging showed that he had adopted some kids a while back, and they were nowhere to be seen. It is suspected that one of the three were who did it. Not just that, but he had an oldest son that went missing long before this occurred, and his whereabouts are unknown._

.

What? Of course he'd say this one was useless, yet it has something interesting in it. Is this related to this at all…? Probably not. And finally… the last one… Flame X…

.

_This duo of thieves started out as small time criminals, only robbing small convenience stores. But they always had a signature, which was burning down the place once they were done. In no time, they started moving to bigger targets, taking on much larger stores, and soon, banks. The more money they made, the more weapons they could afford. One day, the place they were going to rob got tipped in advance, so they had to change their target to a much small store. Unfortunate for them, the person running it was prepared, and a confrontation started. In the midst of it, the male lit the building on fire as cops arrived on the scene. The duo were then shot down. They did not survive._

.

I kept looking at it. This one interested me the most… I've definitely heard of them. But the problem was that they should be dead… or… were they?

"Is that all that's here?" Ashton asked.

Rial nodded. "Most of this place was ransacked by someone. I don't know who." She shrugged. "But best not to waste too much of your time." Seems she was trying to shoo us off.

"What about you?" I asked.

She shook her head. "I'll stay here for now, and see if I can find anything else."

"Fine by me, let's go Gregory." Ashton said as he started to walk away.

It was a little odd, but that's just who Rial was. I turned around to walk away. On the way out, I noticed that one of the shotguns was still missing. Did Rial never put it back?

Our next order of business was the haunted mansion. The two of us finally arrived, stopping to look at it.

"Back here, huh?" Ashton looked up at it.

"Haven't been here since… yeah…" I didn't want to say it.

Suddenly, another earthquake started, this one being the worst one of all.

I looked up and noticed a chunk of the roof break off, I tried to move out of the way, but the ground was just too unstable.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me away from it.

"Thanks… Ashton…" I mumbled.

"Ashton?" Jared said.

I looked up at him. "Oh." He must have been nearby.

He looked at the building. "You two are going in there?" He asked.

The racer nodded. "We have to."

The officer nodded. "Then I will accompany you. Who knows what will happen if another earthquake happens while you two are in there."

I nodded. "That would probably be for the best."

The three of us entered the haunted house. Although, the only reason I was here was for the door. There wasn't anything else… Or… wait…

.

"_Let's just get out of here." Mindy said as she kept walking. Nila and Ashton followed suit._

_I glanced down the bottomless pit, staring for a few seconds, until suddenly… I could see a faint light. Was there something at the bottom of this pit?_

.

That's right, Matthew said he saw something at the bottom of it. Maybe there actually is something down there.

"I want to head to the bottom floor."

"The bottom floor?" Jared asked. "Why that far down?"

Ashton looked like he was going to ask why too, but then he didn't say anything.

I shrugged. "I guess I just want to take a look at the bottomless pit."

He slowly nodded. "Well, it should be safe down there. It's only this floor I'm worried about. I heard there were a lot of traps."

Soon, we made our way down to the lowest floor there was.

"I've never been down here." Jared commented. That's right, he was dropped a floor above us, and then he was never dropped here during the third case.

Soon, we reached the pit. "This is where I wanted to check…" I walked over to the edge and looked down. I didn't see anything standing out at first. But after a while longer, a faint glimmer could be seen. There was definitely something at the bottom. But what? And how could we reach it. Suddenly, thanks to the light, I could see something dangling below. Following the thread, I noticed that it was attached to a protruding piece of wood. I grabbed onto it and slowly lifted it up.

"Isn't that-" Ashton started to ask.

It was… It was the puppet that Mason used to pretend Matthew was still alive.

"It never fell down the pit?" Jared asked. "How…?"

Ashton knelt down to look at it. "Well, it's great that this is here and all, but how does that help us?"

I looked through the coat that was on him, and suddenly, I found something. I pulled it out and saw a circular thing. It looked like some kind of mechanism. But… for what? Then… it hit me…

.

_Heading away from the group, I made my way to a long hallway. And, at the end. There seemed to be a door at the end. Except the lock didn't seem like something I could get through._

"_What are you doing here?" A voice asked._

_I turned around and could faintly see blonde hair. So it seemed to be Mindy. "Hey, as the Thief of the Mis-" I started to say._

"_H-how did you-" She blurted out._

_I stared at her for a few seconds. "I just want to know if you can pick this lock."_

_She walked over to it, looking at. "I don't even have to try to tell you I can't." She shook her head._

.

Is this perhaps the key…? A small smirk appeared on my first. Mason… you beautiful idiot… I put it away in my clothes before anyone else saw it. "Well, there's nothing else here, so we might as well leave."

Jared nodded. "Very well."

We started making our way back up the top floor, until we got to the floor cast in darkness. "Instead of leaving, I'd like to explore this floor a little more." I said.  
"Alright, but don't get too lost." The officer said. "I think I'll resurface and see how everyone else is doing. It was a pretty bad earthquake, so."

"You make sure no one is hurt, alright!" Ashton said as he left.

I watched him leave as I started heading further into the floor. Thankfully, Matthew left instructions on how to get there.

Ashton rubbed the back of his head. "Don't we need a special key or something?"

I looked at him. "Well, we won't know till we try."

He smiled at that. "I guess you're right. We can just beat the door down!"

"No." Was all I said.

Soon, we reached the door. And, just as I hoped, the lock for it seemed very familiar. I took out the mechanism from my clothes.

"Where did you get that?" Ashton asked.

I looked over at it. "It was with the puppet. Seems Mason made it so that it could be retrieved." I looked back at the door. "What did you find… what couldn't you tell us? I placed the key into the lock, and slowly turned as some noise could be heard. Soon, the door slowly opened. Your efforts won't be in vain. We slowly stepped in to what appeared to be a room with a staircase heading down. It seemed to go down for several floors. More than the haunted mansion actually was.

"That's a lot of stairs…" The racer commented. He moved over to the railing, sitting down on it. "See you at the bottom!" He slid down it. It seemed fine, until the distance sound of someone falling down stairs could be heard. I shook my head with a small smile as I headed down the normal way.

After about a minute, we finally reached the bottom. "Are you alright?" I asked Ashton.

He simply gave a thumbs up with a bloody nose. "What is this place?"

I looked around. "I don't know…" It no longer had the horror vi- Or, well, it no longer had the haunted mansion vibe. It had a technology vibe, but it still retained some horror to it. We were walking down a long curving hallway.

Soon, I reached a spot that had a lunk of metal in the middle. As I approached, I realized it was a Monokuma. It seemed to have fallen down. Once I got there, I looked up, and saw that we were under a hole. And then… I remembered something…

.

_Eventually, we reached an open room which had a single light in the middle. It was hanging over what seemed like a well. Except, well, it wasn't exactly one._

"_What's that?" Miranda asked._

_Monokuma walked over to the hole. "This is a bottomless pit! If you fall down here, you're sure to die a painful death!"_

"_Isn't falling to your death painless, since you die on impact?" Veronica asked._

_The bear remained silent for a few seconds before pouting. "You guys are no fun…"_

"_Is it truly bottomless?" Jeremy asked._

_Monokuma nodded. "It sure i-IIIIIIIIIIII!" That was the sound of him falling after Jeremy shoved him in._

_We heard him falling for what felt like a good minute before we could no longer hear him anymore._

"_Guess it is…" The surfer mumbled._

_Miranda shook her head. "You didn't have to do that…"_

.

Soon, I reached what seemed like a small window. I walked over to it.

That's odd, despite being so far down, I could still see the sky. In fact, we still seemed to be well above the ground. Where we… on a cliffside? Nevermind that, the ground at the bottom didn't have any plants. Like this place was void of any vegetation. It went on for a while. Which reminds me, this seems like a hot place, but it's never felt hot, and we've had loads of clouds before…

"Huh… Gregory…" Ashton said. I turned to look at him, his face was pale. He was staring at a window on the opposite side. I walked over to it, and I felt my face paling up too.

Inside, there seemed to be a timer, with no more than four hours left. And inside, were a bunch of explosives, all separated from each other. And then, another earthquake happened, But, it was caused by a tiny explosion.

"This whole place is rigged to blow up!" Ashton commented.

I took a few steps back. We had to hurry up, or else… we'd all be dead. Four hours left. "We need to get out of here."

Ashton nodded. "We should, but we have to at least know what's at the end of the hallway.

A little way in, there was something written on the wall. I approached it. "Mason was here?" I mumbled to myself.

"He was here, I guess he did go down here." He said.

We continued on for a bit, until what we reached was more stairs…

The racer looked up, sighing a little. "I'm getting sick and tired of going up and down stairs…"

"Well… let's see where it leads." It was another minute or two of just stairs, but soon, we reached the top.

But waiting up there wasn't exactly a door. "What now?"

Ashton shrugged. "Well, punching solved our problems earlier, so…" He said right before he hit the wall. Somehow, he hit a panel that seemed to open a secret passageway. "Huh…" Was all he said as he rubbed his fist, which seemed to be red.

We entered the room, which was followed by a girl's scream.

Veronica was standing right in front of us holding one of the weapons from the futuristic weapon room. "O-oh!" She started breathing heavily. "It's just you two…" She put it away into her hoodie. "Where did you guys come from, the wall?"

"Yes." Ashton said.

She stared blankly at him for a few seconds before turning around. "Alright…"

So the passage leads here… but why here…? I looked around the place. Did Mason get something from here? I grabbed a weapon and looked at it. I hadn't noticed that there were initials on it… SN… Hmm…

Veronica turned to look at me. "So, a secret passage behind the walls? Where did you find one?"

"The haunted mansion." I replied.

She looked at me for a few seconds. "Isn't that on the other end of the park? Like, as far away from here?"

I slowly nodded. "Maybe it was to quickly get from one end to the other."

"Quickly? Fuck that!" Ashton shouted out. "We spent so much time on just stairs!"

I looked around some more. Strange, there were more blank spots on the walls now. Are they missing?

Ashton quickly remembered what we just saw. "We should hurry up and get the others and then get the hell out of here!" And then he ran off.

"W-what?" Veronica looked over at me. "Why?"

Thanks man, I didn't want to be the one to say it. "We found some explosives underground. They are set to explode in four hours…"

She froze up slightly. "W-what…?"

I nodded. "It's probably why the earthquakes are happening."

"Then what are we doing standing around!" She turned around and walked away.

I followed behind her.

On our way back, we passed by the center of the future zone. I glanced at it. "..." I know I checked it before, but one more time isn't going to hurt. I looked around at all the control switches, before I realized something… There was a small smudged print on the red button. That's strange, none of us pressed any buttons. It looks like a print, or at least something resembling one. Monokuma wouldn't have left one-

"Gregory." Veronica called out. "We don't have time for this."

I nodded. "Right." I covered my mouth slightly, thinking. I'll just figure this out while walking.

Soon, we made it back to the starting area. Everyone else seemed to be there.

"What do you mean this place is rigged to blow?" Rial asked, very concerned.

"I mean, it's rigged to blow! How much more obvious do you want me to make it?" Ashton yelled out.

Jeremy chuckled a little. "That's pretty cool."

"No! Not cool!" Veronica called out.

This seems familiar. I shook my head. "Well, now we really need to find a way out."

"But there is none." Jared said. "If there was, we would have found it by now!"

Suddenly.

Bear.

"Puhuhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. "There is no escape in Monokuma Land!"

Ashton walked over to him. "Hey, bastard! Get us out of here!"

"Hmm…" The bear hummed in thought. "Get out of here? Did you not just hear me? Unless you think you can solve the mystery of who I am."

"The mystery of who you are?" Veronica asked.

The bear nodded. "You've been snooping around a little too much. How about one final game of life or death. This time, all of your lives hang on it. Find out the true culprit of this place, and you will walk away scot free. But chooooose the wrong ooone. And you will all die instead." He looked at us all. "Do you accept?"

We all looked at each other, unsure.

"Yes… it's time to end this." Jared said.

Rial nodded. "I'm putting a bullet into the head of whoever did all of this."

"Too many people died because of this. Let's put a stop to this!" Ashton yelled out.

Veronica slowly nodded. "I'm ready."

I let out a deep sigh. "One final class trial. One final chance. Let's go."

And then slowly, we all passed out. I… I don't even know how…

.

There I was, standing in front of a familiar scene. A building, on fire. Except, this time, it wasn't my house. This time, it was the church. There it goes… I stood there, watching it with a small frown.

"You see Gregory…" The man who had taken me in said, standing right in front of the church he had set ablaze. "People never truly change… No matter how many chances they're given…"

I shook my head. "You know that's not true. People always change." I said optimistically.

"No. I thought a second chance was what I needed. But people everywhere just aim to bring me down. You'll meet people like that. People that you can trust, but… they aren't what they appear."

I took a step forward. "You're wrong…"

"You think your brother will change?" He asked me.

I froze up. "I…" He got me there. No matter how much my brother would change over the years, he wouldn't change in my eyes.

"Well, that's just how people are. I thought switching to religion would restart everything. But I'm still the same damn piece of shit that I was before." He threw the torch into the building. This only served to make the fire worse.

"Gregory!" A girl yelled out to me as she ran to me.

I turned to look at who it was. "Naomi…?"

She grabbed my arm, pulling me away.

I turned to look back at the person who raised me for a few years. All he did was laugh.

Soon, we stopped running. Naomi gave me a hug. "Are you OK?" She asked sweetly.

I slowly nodded. She was five years older than me. But she had been here at the church since I first came here.

"What he said was wrong. People can change." She smiled sweetly. "Bad people can be good, as long as you choose to forgive and believe them."

I smiled slightly, but deeply sighed. "But… someone like that…"

She kept hugging me. "Well, that's OK. In the end, it's your choice to forgive or not."

Maybe…

.

.

.

Soon, I awoke. I didn't seem to know where I was, until my eyes adjusted. I was in a trial room. But it was different than before. And not just a slight change like normal. This felt like a completely different room. I then realized I was leaning on something. It was the podium. I looked around some more, and the rest of the people were there.

"Now we're here…" Ashton mumbled…

Veronica rubbed her eyes, letting out a small yawn. "Seems like it."

"That was fun." Jeremy said.

"Stop." She replied.

"Couldn't just let us that the elevator." Rial glanced over at Monokuma,

He simply laughed at that. "Nope, because that elevator lead to somewhere that no longer exists. Don't you remember the earthquake while you were in the elevator?"

That's right. I had gotten knocked out from it.

"So, you prepared an impromptu trial grounds/" Jared asked, looking around.

"Nope!" The bear called out. "I had this one already prepared."

Had this one already prepared? Does that mean he knew something like that would happen? Of course, he knew about the bombs, and probably why he tried to hurry up the killing.

"So… the final trial." Veronica frowned somberly. "We're all that's left."

"Sad… isn't it." Ashton let out a sad sigh. He glanced around at the lack of picture frames. "We don't even have the others watching us today."

I looked around. "Even without their pictures here, I know they are watching after us…"

Jared nodded with a confident smile. "For all that have fallen before us."

"Through all we suffered…" Jeremy crossed his arms with a frown.

"This is our last chance." Ashton called out.

"This is where we end this." Rial glanced over at Monokuma with a glare.

The bear simply laughed, drowning in confidence…

.

.

.

Trial…

Commence…

.

.

.

"So… where do we even begin this time…?" Veronica asked.

Ashton sighed. "Normally… we'd start this by talking about a body… but…"

Yeah… no body this time. Thankfully.

"Imagine if this happened a sixth time…" Jeremy frowned slightly. "Thank god it didn't."

"This seems like someone is jabbing something…" Monokuma said.

Rial rolled her eyes. "Moving on… Did anyone find anything interesting while exploring?"

"Not really…" Veronica rubbed her arm. "I spent most of my time in the weapon room."

Jared nodded, understandably. "I didn't even think of investigating. I just cared about the safety of everyone else."

"Well, I have some news articles that were found in my Ultimate Attraction…" Rial started to say. "But…" She glanced off to the side. "They have nothing to do with anything, I think."

I let out a sigh. "I guess I should just come out and say this…" I took out Matthew's journal. "Ashton and I found this."

"Hey, I found it too." Jeremy crossed his arms.

The racer shook his head. "Gregory found the key, and I punched a hole in the wall."

"A hole in the wall?" Jared asked. "Matthew hide it behind the wall in his room?"

I shook my head. "No, he hid it in the wall of Talia's room."

"Talia?" Veronica asked. "Why did he hide it there?"

"It seems the two started working together after the second trial." I explained, flipping through the pages of the notebook. "Seems the two trusted each other and decided to team up."

"I don't know why they chose each other…" Rial shook her head. "But nonetheless, anything of interest to note?"

I nodded. "Ashton and I inspected a few key spots like the haunted house. And that led us to finding out that this place is rigged to explode." I said. "In four hours."

"Puhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. "That was a while ago. You were all passed out for a while."

I froze up slightly. "W-what?"

"How long were we out for!?" Ashton looked at him.

"A bear never tells! That would ruin the suspense that any moment could be your last." He said.

Veronica shook her head. "Then we should worry about finding out who is doing all of this. What else did you find in the journal."

I let out another sigh. I knew what I should say, but I didn't want to get to that part yet… "Well, Mason found out a lot of this stuff because he found some blueprints, apparently, that detailed extra parts of the room. And I know he went down the passageway leading from the haunted house to the weapons room, because he had written his name down there."

"To think he found out this much, and still kept his cool for the most part." Ashton shook his head.

"Not just that, but I found another window in the hallway, and we appear to be in a desert location." I added.

Rial glanced down at the ground. "But, we don't appear to be in one…"

"Well, what's stopping us from being inside a dome like thing…" Veronica suggested. "The future zone is covered in a dome that makes it seem like it's night at all times. Not like it matters, there's so many lights in there that it negates that."

"We've been living in a dome?" Ashton asked, shaking his head. "That, I refuse to believe."

The technician shrugged. "You don't have to believe it, but it's what I think is going on."

"That makes sense actually." I agreed.

"That would explain why some stars were off…" Rial glanced to the side. She looked back at everyone, who was just staring at her. "I like looking at the stars, got a problem with that?"

"Stars are lovely to look at." Jeremy said.

I shook my head. "And also, Talia came up with a potential list of suspects."

"And they are?" Veronica asked.

I let out a sigh. "She thinks someone who was infected, was not truly infected. Because when Monokuma said who he cured, he said he only cured six people, despite eight people being infected."

"So… Jerry…" Jared started to say. "And someone else…"

I nodded. "The people infected were, Jared, Jeremy, Jerry, Mindy, Miranda, Nila, Rial, and Veronica." I thought for a bit, until I realized that four of us were infected. And if we take Jerry out of the equation. I don't see it being Mindy, Miranda, or Nila… It just doesn't fit with how they are… Does that mean…? I glanced over at Ashton, who seemed to be having a similar thoughts.

"What?" Rial asked.

I frowned slightly. "It's possible that the mastermind is amongst us six." As hard as it is to believe. It seems the most likely.

"One of us?" Veronica asked, looking around.

"What about the others who were infected?" Jeremy crossed his arms. "Even if they died, that could have been faked."

"Care to explain how Nila faked her death…?" I asked. "Or why would she play the role of traitor?"

That seemed to have gotten him.

"Alright, but an execution can be faked…" Jared said.

Maybe… "But, then that leaves Miranda and Mindy… and I still don't think any of them would do that…"

"Personalities can be deceiving…" Jeremy crossed his arms.

"Jeremy…" Rial said, looking at him. "You are the most suspicious one. You know, being infected, but not changing at all."

He simply laughed at that. "Isn't that strange." He frowned slightly.

"Care to defend yourself?" The sniper asked.

He simply chuckled. "Do I have to?"

"For all we know, this could be a dead lead." Jared said. "Monokuma might not have cured Jeremy because he didn't change at all."

The surfer laughed at that. "Or maybe I did change, and it just wasn't visible. Not like Monokuma can see our innermost thoughts."

"Hey, I might be a bear, but even I have limits." He said in his defense.

"Are you saying you know what changed?" Veronica asked.

He looked off to the side, deep in thought. "Not saying that I know what changed… But I have a feeling on what changed…"

"Stop it!" Ashton called out. "You are just trying to waste time. We are on a ticking time bomb right now! Don't you care?"

He frowned again. "No… not really…"

"You… don't care? Does that mean you don't care if we die…?" Veronica asked sadly.

"Nope." He said with a smile. "I don't even care if I die…" He looked off to the side with a frown. "I've lost sympathy long ago. I haven't cared about anyone dying. Probably why I could move so close to the bodies."

That's right...

.

_Well, the most logical place to start would be to get a better look at the body. I made my way there. Katrine followed me._

_Jeremy was standing in front of the body. He lightly pushed it with his finger and the body fell over. "Hmm…" He slowly picked it up, putting it back to how it was._

_I walked over to him. "Hey, Jeremy."_

.

_Jeremy walked over to the body. "We can worry about that later, let's start our investigation._

_He's right, we shouldn't waste any time. We don't know when Monokuma will call class trial._

_The first thing I did was walk over to the body. As much as it pained me to do so._

.

_We both walked over to the body and it was just as bad as all the other bodies we found._

_The first thing that took my interest was the umbrella. It was rather weirdly placed. The last few days, she wore it on her back. So why move it to the front. I picked it up to see if it was covering anything, but it wasn't. It was rather odd. The whole thing was drenched in blood, probably from the blood dripping from her head and chest._

_Jeremy took the umbrella. "I'll keep this safe." He smiled. Alrighty then._

.

_Like usual, I walked over to the body, as hard as it was to walk over to it. As usual, Jeremy was the closest to the body. He held in his hand a broken piece of a chair, probably blown off from the shot._

_He poked the part of her cheek still intact. "Yep, definitely dead." He said to himself. It wasn't long before he was slapped by someone. I glanced at who had done it to see Mindy, on the verge of tears._

.

"Except for the first case, you always approached the body." I said. "You weren't bugged by it one way."

He glanced away. "Why would I be bugged? Are bodies supposed to disturb me? Didn't you always approach them?"

"Well… yes… but." I started to say. But he got me there. "But I'm disturbed by it everytime."

"Stop dragging it on, what do you think Monokuma tried to change?" Asthon asked.

He simply chuckled. "I think he tried to make me fearful." He turned to look at the bear. "Well, was that it?"

He remained quiet for a few seconds. "... Yes, that's exactly what I changed. I thought making you way more scared of your own life would make you more likely to kill."

The surfer simply laughed. "That was doomed to fail from the start. Being fearless isn't technically part of my personality. I literally can't feel fear." He lifted up his hair on his right side. This revealed that he had a rather large injury there, as well as some stitches. "I damaged that part of the brain long ago."

I froze up. "You… you're injured? Why have you never mentioned it before."

He glanced the other way, crossing his arms, which made his hair fall back down. "I did mention it, but I guess no one cared enough to listen."

.

_Denise shook her head. "Let's just start making these pillows."_

_We sat down on a nearby bench. Denise took out some tools she seemed to have acquired from her lab. "I'm guessing none of you have stitched before?"_

"_Nope." I said._

_Miranda simply shook her head._

"_Not my talent." Veronica said._

"_I have stitches." Jeremy said with a smile._

.

"Amazing how you two probably just thought I was joking." Jeremy frowned slightly.

Veronica looked down, frowning. "I thought it was just you being you."

He let out a small sigh. "My frontal lobe is damaged… The damage comes with memory loss, decline in intelligence, risk taking increased, loss of sympathy. Stuff like that. I miss social cues sometimes." He glanced away. "Pretty much I stopped caring about a lot of things. And my days are probably numbered. I have medication to make it better, but I don't like taking it…"

Medication…? I slowly reached into my pocket and took a bottle. "Is this yours?" I tossed it to him.

He caught it. He looked at it for a second before putting it away. "I've got to stop dropping this…"

"How… How did you injure yourself?" Veronica sounded very concerned.

He glanced away. "It's been a long time, so I've forgotten the details, but it has to do with what my original talent was going to be."

"Surfing wasn't your original talent?" Jared asked him.

He shook his head. "It's a hobby I picked up after I got hurt. I used to want to be a marine biologist." He smiled. "But, things don't always go as planned, and one day, I swam too close to something I shouldn't have."

"Jeremy…" Veronica said, looking at the ground.

"I try to care, but for the most part, I stop after a while." He crossed his arms with a frown. "Only thing I can really do is help in trials when my intelligence isn't wavering."

"... But still, it's still possible because nothing changed, Monkuma didn't cure you." Jared said.  
Monokuma shook his head. "Puhuhuhuhu… maybe I did cure him. Maybe I didn't want it to affect things in the future."

Rial stared at him for a bit. "Are you trying to help us?"

"Nope!" He said quickly. "I'm just here to make things more interesting. What's the fun if everyone blows up long before they learn anything." He laughed.

The sniper shook her head. "Then maybe we should move onto someone else…"

It didn't seem like it could be Jeremy… but… I glanced over at him. Is he truly dying…?

Rial let out a small sigh. "Let's move onto the second most suspicious person here." She looked over at Veronica.

"Oh, here we go again." She said, annoyed.

"After you were infected, you seem to keep most of your infected personality." The sniper said.

She tilted her head slightly. "It's because I realized I was more useful like that. I helped out more instead of being so shy."

Rial rolled her eyes, "Sure, that's the excuse you can tell yourself."

"Cat fight." Jeremy said with a fight. Now's not the time, man.

Jared shook his head. "Let's not fight over this. Let's go about this in a civil way."

"Oh, I'm pretty civil right now." Veronica smiled. "Rial has had it out for me for a while."

The sniper glanced away for a few seconds. "Because I'm smart and learn not to be too trusting, so I can pick up on things."

"Pick up on things, like what?" The technician asked.

She sighed. "Not like it matters. I'm just surprised to see you alive?"

"Surprised to see me alive? Why, thought someone here would off me?" She asked.

Rial glanced away. "Not exactly…"

"Just say it!" Jared called out to her.

She bit her bottom lip, trying to build up the urge to say it. "You shouldn't be here, period. You should be dead."

Veronica froze up slightly. "I should… be dead…?" She clenched her fist, looking at the ground. "What do you mean by that…?"

I could physically feel the bonds of trust we had all built between each other slowly start to crumble. This isn't how this trial should have gone…

The sniper couldn't even make eye contact with her. "You appeared as a target on my list at one point."

"A target… huh…" Veronica said somberly. "How did the target die…?"

"A bullet wound to the head, followed by…" She trailed off. "A car accident."

The technician looked at her for a few seconds. "Ah…" She reached in her pocket. "You must think Veronica is a fake name huh? Did you even get the name of the person?"

"..." The sniper stayed silent for a few seconds. "Nik-" She stopped herself. "That's what your real name is, isn't it?"

"Nope, whatever you were about to say isn't my name." Veronica said. "It was a name of someone very dear to me." She frowned slightly. Then, she pulled out one of the futuristic weapons and aimed it at Rial.

"V-Veronica?" I said, looking at her.

She smiled sweetly. "This is some personal matter."

Rial grabbed her sniper rifle and aimed it at Veronica

"This is no longer a simple cat fight." Jeremy frowned.

"Girls!" Jared called out. "That's enough! This isn't the time for this!"

The bonds of trust seemed to shatter even more.

"My sister…" Veronica said. "Nika…"

Rial seemed to freeze, hearing that name.

"Why… Why was she one of your targets!?" She asked, angrily.

I glanced over at the weapon she was holding. And then I realized… I had been reading the initials upside down the entire time… They read NS...

"Veronica… what's your sister's name…?" I asked.

She looked at me. "Nika…"

I stood there, thinking for a few seconds. "Nika Selene… She made those weapons, didn't she…?"

She gripped tighter onto the weapon. "Something like that…"

"Sister…" Rial asked. "What do you mean you have a sister?"

"She was my twin… And she died in a car accident, with my mom as well as two other girls in the car they collided in." The technician said.

Jared froze up. "What… no…" He clenched his fist.

Veronica looked at him. "What are you freaking out about?"

"I…" He started to say, catching his breath. "My division was sent to investigate that accident…"

The technician looked at him for a few seconds. "And you didn't find anything."

"No… we didn't…" He admitted.

She looked at him a little longer before putting her other hand in her hoodie and pulling out a second weapon, aiming it at Jared. "And here I thought I could trust you too."

"Veronica!" I shouted out. "What the hell?" I never normally talk like this, but this was getting out of hand. "Is this how you've always been?"

"W-what?" She looked at me with a small frown.

I didn't want to think about this as a possibility, but… "Was your earlier personality just a facade?"

She seemed sad by the accusation. "W-what… no.. that's how I am normally… but this…" She turned to look at Rial, anger filling her voice. "This bitch took away my mother and sister from me!"

Rial seemed to be hurt by the verbal whiplash. "Hey, your sister has only herself to blame."

"Oh, and why's that?" She tightened her grip on both weapons, ready to shoot.

"H-hey, I didn't even say anything!" Jared yelled out. He reached over for something, but stopped inside. "Veronica, please lower your weapon. Violence is not what we need right now."

"Not until she tells me why!" She yelled out.

Rial lowered her gun slightly. "No, first, you tell me why she made weapons."

Veronica frowned slightly. "Her and I both made them. Our family was in a tough situation. And we wanted to support our parents. So we started making stuff to sell off. Of course, we only sold them to trusted places. Mostly the government and stuff. But besides the money, it was just a hobby we did from time to time."

"Sold to the government…" Rial asked. "I don't believe that one bit…"

"W-what…?" The technician placed her finger on the trigger.

The sniper raised her weapon at Veronica's face. "Don't even try it."

Veronica seemed frustrated. "I'm telling you the truth…" She didn't seem to be lying… but… what do I know…?

Rial glared at her. "My mentor… he was killed by one of your weapons." She revealed.

"Sounds to me like you were enemies for the government." Veronica frowned.

"You fucking idiot, I worked for them! I went out and killed people who were threats!" She yelled out. "I don't think they'd want to get rid of me or him. The weapon that killed him came from the blackmarket!"

The technician froze up a little bit. "The blackmarket…" She lowered her weapon a little, thinking back to something. "That's where all that extra money came from…" A tear trailed down her cheek. "Nika… you idiot…"

"Is this all resolved…?" Jared asked.

"No…" She said coldly. "That didn't mean you had to kill her for it, you bastard." She raised the weapon again.

"Guys… please stop…" I said. This wasn't how this trial was supposed to go…

.

"_You see Gregory…" The man who had taken me in said, standing right in front of the church he had set ablaze. "People never truly change… No matter how many chances they're given…"_

_I shook my head. "You know that's not true. People always change." I said optimistically._

"_No. I thought a second chance was what I needed. But people everywhere just aim to bring me down. You'll meet people like that. People that you can trust, but… they aren't what they appear."_

.

I frowned slightly, remembering that. Why now? Why did I have that dream then…? And there was the one from the elevator too…

.

_I stood in a dark field. Or, at least a field of shadows, I was surrounded by four people, but couldn't quite make out what they looked like. The first person actually had other people standing behind them, like they led them. The second person, this one was to my left. They pulled out what appeared to be a weird pistol and aimed it at me. The third person was on my right, and they appeared to be the only person who wasn't just cast in shadow. Or, at least this shadow was blood red. And finally, the person behind me was walking amongst what looked like corpses, but they seemed unfazed._

_Suddenly… I was jolted awake._

.

Out of all the dreams… that was the weirdest one… Was someone trying to divide us…? Not just that dream…

.

_Something still feels off about these dreams… Why have they started now? The longer I stay here, the more unpleasant they become._

"_Not going to answer me?" He scuffed, turning around. "Fine by me…" He started to walk away. "But when everyone betrays you, don't act surprised…"_

_When everyone… betrays me…? I looked around and quickly noticed familiar people standing around me, but before my eyes could even focus…_

.

I couldn't be the only one having dreams like these, right? "Guys, someone is clearly trying to put a wedge between us!"

"Dammit it all to hell!" Ashton yelled out.

This seemed to have gotten everyone's attention. They all turned to look at him.

"What the hell happened to what we said at the start? For all those who have fallen before us? Well, with those words, I'm just seeing a load of crap! Why are we fighting amongst ourselves over something that happened years ago. Our first order of business is to bring who put us in this killing game to justice!" He yelled out, clenching his fist tightly. "You can settle this after!"

A small smile appeared on my face. "Right, now's not the time to be aiming guns at everyone." Right, it doesn't matter what happened in the past, people can change… Right?

.

_Soon, we stopped running. Naomi gave me a hug. "Are you OK?" She asked sweetly._

_I slowly nodded. She was five years older than me. But she had been here at the church since I first came here._

"_What he said was wrong. People can change." She smiled sweetly. "Bad people can be good, as long as you choose to forgive and believe them."_

_I smiled slightly, but deeply sighed. "But… someone like that…"_

_She kept hugging me. "Well, that's OK. In the end, it's your choice to forgive or not."_

_Maybe…_

.

Right…

Veronica slowly lowered her guns, a small frown appeared on her face.

Rial did the same, glancing away.

"There we go." I smiled softly.

"Wasting time like this won't do us any good." Ashton had calmed down.

"Puhuhuhuhu!" Monokuma laughed. "That's it? You are just going to let that slide?"

"W-what…" Veronica asked.

The bear laughed again. "Oh come on, your mother and sister's killer is standing right in front of you."

She looked down at the ground, her face cast in shadows. A few tears started going down her face.

Rial aimed her weapon at her again. "Don't listen to him, or I will shoot you."

"You seem to think one of you six is the mastermind after all!" Monokuma said. "That's a 20% chance that you will kill the right person."

She slowly raised her weapon, hesitant. But then she frowned. "I can't…" She seemed deep in thought. Some more tears ran down her face. "But…" She aimed at Rial. "I won't feel any closure until it's over."

"Guys! STOP!" Ashton yelled out.

Someone jumped over their podium.

Veronica pulled the trigger, followed by Rial.

Blood was drawn…


	14. Chapter 6: Heart Of Corruption Part 3

Veronica froze up as she saw who had jumped in front of the way. "J-Jeremy…"

He had been shot in the right shoulder by the sniper rifle, and then shot near his injury with the futuristic gun Veronica had. Luckily, it didn't seem to injure him too much. A small amount of blood trickled down his face. He frowned slightly.

The technician lowered her weapon. "Why did you… I thought you didn't care if any of us died."

"No, I don't really care." He kept frowning, but soon it turned into an honest smile. "But it doesn't mean I think nor want any of you to die." He tilted his head slightly. "Someone had to take a bullet." He looked over at Rial. "Both of you, lower your weapons."

Rial slowly put her gun back on her back.

"You've all fired the shots you wanted to fire." Jeremy said. The shoulder of his hoodie started to turn red.

"J-Jeremy!" Veronica seemed very concerned. "We need to get you patched up."

He shook his head. "No time for that, we need to use our time wisely."

"But what do we do now? We are no closer to figuring it out than we were when we started!" Jared said. He gripped onto his hat, throwing it to the side. Seems he was getting serious. We were running low on time.

Rial glanced off to the side. "We… we still have those news articles."

"Didn't you say that those weren't related." Jeremy said before coughing.

"Seriously!" The technician said. "We need to get you patched up."  
"I'm fine." He said seriously. "If I die, I die…" He crossed his arms, looking the other way.

Rial glanced at the ground. "Well, I've given it some thought, and why would Mason need to be killed for finding the articles."

"Not just the articles, he found out about the bombs and a secret passageway to the Future Zone." Ashton said. "But still, none of that was anything big."

Jared hummed in thought. "So, you are saying the identity of the Mastermind is hidden within those news articles?"

I nodded. "We should probably start on the Flame-X one…" Fire… huh…

"Why that one?" Ashton asked.

I opened the journal. "I don't know, but something tells me this might be a good place to start. Matthew made mention that Mindy was the Thief of the Mist."

"Thief of the Mist!?" Jared asked. "Didn't she get arrested a while ago, then?"

"Arrested, but she was proven innocent thanks to a lawyer." Rial said.

"Huh…" Ashton had a look of astonishment. "Must have been a good lawyer."

Jared shook his head. "I think I know who took the case, either way. Why bring up this article."

I didn't really know why. Maybe it was because of the fire… "Well, I'm just saying that we had a well known thief amongst us… and we just so happen to have an article about a duo of thieves…" Maybe this wasn't the best one to start with.

"Yeah, but Mindy was mostly ice related, so I don't think she had anything to do with Flame-X." Veronica said.

I let out a sigh. "I've had several dreams since I've been here. Memories, of sorts. And three of them had to do with something catching on fire." I let out another sigh. "I had a brother, who's several years older than me, who lit our house on fire seven years ago. So I was only eight."

"Where… are you going with this…?" Jared asked me.

Honestly, I didn't know. The duo were found dead. I shook my head. "Forget it."

"You think your brother became a member of it?" Jeremy asked. "Maybe, but then that shines doubt on you if the article is here. Sounds like something you'd keep track of."

"I do admit that would make me look suspicious, but… I haven't seen him in years. I'm just saying… it's possible he met whoever is behind this, and that's why the article was kept."

"Made contact?" Rial asked, tilting her head slightly. "How vicious is your brother?"

I shook my head. "Well, he killed both of my parents… and he was never caught, even to this day."

"Hmm…" The sniper thought for a bit. "Well, I'd say maybe this is connected to the other article, about a crime leader being found dead in their home, but it made no mention of a fire.

I laughed slightly. "And I don't think my father was a crime lord. Not to mention I only had a brother." The only person who would even count as a sister would be Naomi, but… I trailed off in my mind, shaking my head.

"Crime lord?" Veronica asked.

Ashton nodded. "Remember that article Mason said was useless. Well turns out it was darker than we thought. Turns out the man was found dead, as well as two of his kids."

"That's… dark…" The technician frowned.

He let out a sigh. "Apparently, he also had three adopted daughters, and another son. All four were suspects, but they didn't find either of them."

I thought some more. What does any of this have to do with anyone…?

"What about the last article? The one about the shooting?" Jeremy asked.

Rial glanced away. "That one is the most irrelevant of the bunch."

Veronica glanced over at her. "What makes you think that."

"What would a school shooting have to do with anything here?" The sniper said.

"Aren't we students?" Jeremy brought up.

This received a glare from her.

I shook my head, "Maybe there's some connections we can make."

"People died in all of them." Jeremy said.

Jared shook his head. "Not exactly the connection we were looking for."

"It would probably help if we knew what CWA meant.' Ashton said.

Veronica froze up a bit. "CWA… Was… was that the name of the school?"

The racer nodded. "Yeah, that's what the paper said."

"Well, that tells us a lot, that's Crystal Wing Academy…" She said.

"How does that help us?" Jeremy frowned slightly.

A smile appeared on her face. "Well, each school had their own unique symbol. Most students add it to their uniform when they move to high school.. Jeremy has his school symbol. Seaside Academy." She pointed towards the wave on his hoodie.

He nodded. "It's why I wanted to be a marine biologist."

"I have this symbol." She pointed to her hoodie. It was like a sound wave you'd see on programs. "Tech High. Most people have them because it represents where they got their passion from."

"Where are you going with this?" Ashton asked.

She looked at him. "Let me finish. You, Jared, and Gregory, don't have any symbols like that. At least none that I can see." Her attention turned towards Rial. "But yours… Yours is the symbol of Crystal Wings Academy. A diamond with wings."

"Tch…" She quickly glanced away. "No, our symbol is similar… it's not…"

"Enough." Veronica said. "Now that I think of it. What's stopping you from having killed Flame-X? Or even from killing the crime lord."

"No… I didn't have any part in that." She said.

Jared looked over at Rial. "Are you saying… she killed all of those people…?"

"Possibly. She did kill my sister after all. Who knows who else she could have killed." Veronica said. She took out her weapon again. "I should have taken the shot."

"I will admit my connection to the first one, but what's stopping the others being connected to the others? If I was the mastermind, like hell I would keep incriminating evidence like that." The sniper said.

"Maybe you wouldn't…" I said. "But… Someone else could have planted incriminating evidence like that…" I opened the journal again. I was getting a lot of mileage from this.

.

_I shook my head slightly. "Denise and I found something yesterday, but we didn't get to have a good look at it before Mason snatched it. It looked like some blueprints left behind."_

_She looked at me quizzically. "Blueprints? Why would those be left behind? And where?"_

"_In the wallpaper, Denise noticed that the wall was a little weird and ripped it open. As for why they were there, I don't know. It doesn't seem like something the Mastermind would do." I told her._

_She frowned slightly, looking at the ground. "So then, who would keep those there? Maybe whoever built this place originally?"_

_I thought some more. "It's possible that this place was constructed just for us. If that's the case, someone who helped build this might have kept that there for us to find."_

"_For us to find?" She asked._

_I nodded. "The mastermind probably didn't know about it, because if they did, they wouldn't be there anymore." I glanced off to the side._

.

"Just like how they left blueprints for some buildings, they could have left that to help us." I said.

Rial seemed pissed. "You really think it's me."

"Well… No… but…" I started to say. "We don't really have any other leads right now."

"Well, you're following the wrong one. I would never set this up. My one goal in life is to purge the people who have done wrong in life." Rial admitted. "And if I put you all in here, I would be no better than the people I kill."

"You are already no better than the people you kill because you kill them." Veronica said.

"..." She glanced away. "Someone had to do it… someone had to bring justice."

"Justice isn't this!" Veronica yelled out. "People can't learn or be punished if they just die."

Rial gripped her sniper rifle. "Don't worry, where I'm sending them, they will be punished. They are going straight to Hell."

"Is that where you sent my sister." Veronica asked, angrily.

Jeremy let out a sigh, moving back over to the middle. "Don't try and shoot each other again." He turned to look at Rial. "Just explain what happened at school."

She frowned slightly, looking away. "It was around the time I had gotten a mentor. Some incident happened, and he took me in for training on how to use guns and stuff. Said I'd help him out with his missions, since I had the talent for it." She sighed a little, putting her sniper rifle back on her back. "Then, one day at school… one of the students pulled out a gun somewhere. I don't know who it was at the time, as I was nowhere near there. But he had gotten to a lot of them. At one point, I ran him to him, and I used the skills I had acquired to disarm him and… well, kill him. I didn't want to risk him doing anything else."

Ashton stared straight ahead for a few seconds. "But… didn't the article say a boy? Oh wait-" Seems he had forgotten Rial used to be a boy.

"But still, how old were you when this happened?" I asked.

She looked down to think. "I was maybe only 12, I was trained pretty young."

"This mentor…" Veronica started to ask.

"Same one that was killed by your weapons." She replied, bitterly.

"Didn't need to say it like that." She replied, just as rude.

I shook my head. "But still, did anything else happen?"

She slowly nodded. "I was brought in for questioning, but soon, my mentor showed up to bail me out. He trained me even more after that, and I started my career as the Ultimate Sniper."

"So, are you sure you didn't kill the others in the article?" Jeremy asked.

She shook her head. "I never forget a target. And I definitely never went after any petty thieves."

Jeremy crossed his arms. "They weren't exactly petty thieves. They were also arsons, and murderers. So they could have been on your hit list."

"I didn't even live in the same town that they were plaguing. Or at least not one I needed to visit. Plus, it seems like the police handled it fine." She said. "And it seems they have no qualms in killing people."

"The police would only do that if it was necessary." Jared said. "They were probably firing back."

The sniper looked at him. "Oh, were you there?"

He shook his head. "No, I was nowhere near where it happened. If I was there, the results would have been different." He clenched his fist. "Despite how bad they were, they probably started off stealing normally, needing things."

I thought back to Mindy. She didn't seem like a bad person, nor did she seem like someone that would intentionally hurt someone. She just seemed to be a girl who was trying to live in a world that offered her nothing.

Veronica shook her head. "It's still the most likely that those articles were kept because of you."

"Veronica… I swear… I would never do something like this. Most of you don't deserve the Hell this is." Rial said sadly.

She thinks this place is Hell too, huh… "Then, if not you, then who. None of us went to the school. Do you recognize anyone here?"

She looked around, before shaking her head. "No, none of you were in my class."

Jeremy looked away. "Maybe the other two articles are about two different people here?" He suggested.

"Gregory for Flame-X, if his brother became one of the people in it." Ashton said.

I slowly nodded. "And then that leaves the crime lord story."

Jeremy shook his head. "But, the problem is that it doesn't seem to apply for any of us."

He's right. I'm even stretching the idea with the article that could mention my brother.

Jared shook his head. "It's probably just that the two others are red herrings and the one that's right is the school shooting. In which it all leads to Rial."

"S-shut up! I'm telling you. It's not me!" She tried to defend herself.

Ashton looked down. "I believe her. I don't know, but something tells me it just isn't her."

"Didn't she say she was going to kill you back in the fourth trial?" Veronica asked.

He froze up for a second before gripping his fist. "So what? What purpose have I ever served. I was only ever useful after. If she was going to kill me for being useless, then fine."

"I already told you I was aiming for Veronica." Rial sighed.

The technician rolled her eyes. "But of course."

How did we get right back these two yelling.

"Puhuhuhuhu." Monokuma laughed.

"What's so funny?" Jeremy asked.

"Oh… You know." He lifted up an arm, leaning forward. "Just you seem to be running out of time."

As he said, another earthquake shook the ground. This one seemed to be worse than all the others. A light behind us fell and shattered on the ground.

"We're just wasting time!" Jared shouted out. "We need to end this."

Veronica raised her weapon, aiming at Rial. "I'm way ahead of you."

"Guys! Let's think about this!" Ashton yelled out.

Soon, a screen lowered down. Then, a timer appeared on it, showing only twenty minutes. "After you guess, you still have to escape. So you better wrap this up and hope you get the right one." The bear said.

Ashton slammed his fist on his podium. "He's trying to pressure us, let's think rationally."

"Oh, I thought plenty enough." Veronica put her finger on the trigger.

Rial aimed her weapon at Veronica. "If you shoot me, I'm shooting you.. And unlike yours, mine is a one-hit-kill."

"It didn't kill Jeremy because it missed." The technician said.

"It hurts." The surfer said with a smile.

She looked over at him. "Why didn't you say that sooner!?"

He simply shrugged. "I don't know, didn't seem relevant at the time."

"It's always relevant!" She shouted out.

I looked back and forth between Veronica and Rial. Did I think it was Rial? I… don't know… but… She just doesn't seem like she could be the mastermind. There must be someone else. Monokuma seems way too insistent that it's her. Was there someone else at the school with her? No, she said she didn't recognize anyone. But… maybe she's mistaken. I shook my head. Not like it matters, I don't think anyone had the same emblem as her.

.

_She looked at him. "Let me finish. You, Jared, and Gregory, don't have any symbols like that. At least none that I can see." Her attention turned towards Rial. "But yours… Yours is the symbol of Crystal Wings Academy. A diamond with wings."_

.

That we can see, huh? I feel like one of us had an emblem before, I was sure four of us did have some. When did the number lower to three?

.

Wait… didn't Jared have an emblem… But, what happened to it?

.

"_But what do we do now? We are no closer to figuring it out than we were when we started!" Jared said. He gripped onto his hat, throwing it to the side. Seems he was getting serious. We were running low on time._

.

He threw his hat? At the time I thought he was getting serious, but… what if he had an emblem on it. "Jared…" I spoke up.

He looked at me. "Yes?"

"What happened to your hat?" I looked at him.

The officer remained silent for a few seconds. "Does that really matter."

I slowly nodded. "It kinda does. You threw it earlier."

Jared looked at the timer that said eighteen minutes left. "We don't have time for trivial things like this."

"Jared…" Ashton looked at him. "Get your hat for us. It should only take ten seconds." He flashed a smile with a thumbs up.

He stood still for a few seconds before he slowly walked over to his hat. So much for being pressed for time. He picked it up and walked back to his podium. He stared at his hat for a few seconds before putting it back on.

"...!" Veronica lowered her weapon as she saw the symbol on his hat. "It's the same. Why didn't you mention it?"

"Because this would happen. I would get accused of something I didn't do." He crossed his arms. "Thus wasting more time that we don't have!"

"Wasting time… huh…? "Jeremy asked. "Like you just did with the hat, you took an awful amount of time."

"I didn't want to move too fast, and have Veronica shoot me." He replied.

She seemed offended enough to aim her weapon at him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He shook his head. "Nevermind. First, I should explain why I'm not involved with what was happening at the school. For starters, I'm actually two years older than all of you. I took two years for my training. So I was long gone from the school when it happened."

Ashton slowly nodded. "Makes sense to me."

"Second of all, even if I was there, I took so much time off to train as an officer that I was barely there." Jared said. "Not to mention, if I was there, I would have apprehended the suspect long before Rial ever got to him."

The sniper remained silent. "Being two years older means nothing, since you would have been in 9th, while I was in 7th… Our academy consisted of 7th and 8th grade. As well as high school, 9th to 12th. And Hope's Peak only starts at 10th grade."

"But my other point still stands, I was always away training…" The officer frowned. "I think this was one of my long periods of absence, and I was unaware of the events that transpired."

It sounded believable. I heard becoming a police officer takes a lot of training, and to becoming one so young… too.

Rial let out a sigh…

.

.

.

He went to the same school as me, but there's no way I can prove he even was there…

.

_I hid behind a desk in the classroom. Was I a little frightened? Yes, yes I was. But… I was more pissed off that some asshole would come into my school and start killing people off. I turned towards one of my friends who had his hands in his head, crying._

_I looked back at the door. I heard running._

_In ran a kid who seemed like he was in 9th grade. He knelt down by the door. At the time… I… I didn't know who he was. He was lacking his blue hair, as it was just black hair. But it was still the same shape. A kid that rumours said missed a lot of school because he was trying to be an officer. The Ultimate Officer._

_He turned to look at me. "Keep your friend safe. I've got this." I frowned a little bit. No, I was going to resolve this! Without even thinking I sprinted out of the room, turning the corner as soon as I got out. There he was. The person with the gun was walking around cautiously, like he was afraid of something. I sprinted towards him silently. By the time he realized I was there, it was too late. I had disarmed him and pinned him to the ground._

"_Wait no, it's no-" At the time, I hadn't really registered the words, as I shot him. Just like my training had said._

"_Why did you shoot him?" The boy yelled out running to him. "Restraining him would have been enough."_

.

No… That had to be Jared. That couldn't be anyone but Jared! And he had run from the same spot where the shooter was. I quickly grabbed my gun and aimed at Jared. "It is you!" I shouted out.

He took a step back out of shock. He looked like he was pulling something out, and I could see a pistol. But then, someone grabbed me from behind, restraining me.

"M-Monokuma?" Veronica froze up, seeing who was retraining me.

"Not so fast!" He yelled out.

Angrily, I looked over at Jared, who was holding out his pistol. He seemed very annoyed. "Great." He said sarcastically. "I had this one covered."

"You were about to get your brains blown out!" The bear said. He attached cuffs to my hands, but they seemed to be electronic.

"J-Jared…?" Gregory asked. "I-It's you…?"

Veronica raised her weapons at him out of rage.

But before she could even do that, he aimed his gun at her and fired. But… it didn't hit her…

"How many bullets are you going to take for me…?" Veronica yelled out at Jeremy, who had just taken one in the same shoulder.

"As many as I have to." He replied. This felt like dumb love.

The officer kept his gun aimed at Jeremy. "If you try anything, Veronica, I will shoot him in the head. So lower your gun…"

"I can take it." The surfer smiled.

"No you can't!" She said frustrated. But, she slowly lowered the one she had in her hands.

"And the second one." He said.

She took out the second one, and placed it on the ground too.

He looked at everyone else. "Perfect."

Ashton and Gregory seemed way too shocked to say anything.

.

.

.

What…? Jared… Jared… h-how… Why?

"Dammit!" Ashton yelled out. "What the hell is this bullshit!?"

The mastermind turned to look at him. "Oh, don't be so surprised." He started reloading his gun out of habit.

"But…" Veronica had a tear going down her cheek. "You… you always seemed like you were protecting us."

He rolled his eyes. "The cameras? Please. That was nothing more to monitor you all."

This still didn't make sense. "But… all you've done for us…"

.

_Suddenly, another earthquake started, this one being the worst one of all._

_I looked up and noticed a chunk of the roof break off, I tried to move out of the way, but the ground was just too unstable._

_Suddenly, a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me away from it._

"_Thanks… Ashton…" I mumbled._

"_Ashton?" Jared said._

_I looked up at him. "Oh." He must have been nearby._

_He looked at the building. "You two are going in there?" He asked._

_The racer nodded. "We have to."_

_The officer nodded. "Then I will accompany you. Who knows what will happen if another earthquake happens while you two are in there."_

.

"You saved me from a falling chunk of the building." I called out. "Why?"

Jeremy frowned slightly, crossing his arms. He cringed in pain as he did so. "And you saved me from falling off the roof the other day."

"And that doesn't really mean anything? Just stuff used for trust…" Jared said.

No… That can't be it… "This whole time… you've been playing hero…"

"Bastard!" Rial shouted out. "That's what happened back at school. The boy I killed wasn't the shooter. You were!"

He pointed his gun at the sniper. "Bold accusation. Care to back that up with facts?"

"Oh, I have more than enough. The weapon retrieved was standard for police officers." The sniper said.

The officer shook his head. "The boy's father used to be an officer, and he was allowed to keep his gun."

"That would be the case, but apparently they said they couldn't find the weapon owner, which makes it unlikely it was his father. Meanwhile, we have you, a policeman in training." She said.

Jared shook his head. "Then what reason would I have to stop him if you think I was the true shooter?"

I froze up. No… it couldn't be what I think it is. "You bastard…" I found myself saying. I've never felt so pissed. "You are doing all of this to appear as the hero! Everything you did, you did to make yourself look good. You want to be the damn hero!"

"That's… sick…" Veronica commented.

I clenched my fist. "You did all that, just so we'd praise you. You set this all up too for that I bet."

Jared looked at me, before playing his gun. "Well, I was hoping to frame this all on Rial and escape as the hero who took her down. But obviously things didn't play out like that." He aimed his gun back at her. "But the tragic hero who was the last one alive has a nice ring to it."

"Shut up!" Ashton said. "I have half a mind to knock you out right now."

The officer aimed his gun at the racer now. "Care to say that again?"

"I don't care if I'm shot. I'll take a hundred bullets if I had to, just to save someone!" He yelled out. "Something you wouldn't do."

I nodded. "No matter how much you pretend to be a hero. Risking nothing to save someone doesn't mean anything." Why was I saying stuff like this now? "People here have risked their own lives trying to save others. You can't hold a candle to them!"

Jared stared at me for a few seconds. "You're just like your brother."

This caught me off guard. "My… brother…?"

He smirked, showing a more devilish side. "Your brother wanted to join us, and boy was he a riot. He belonged in our crazed group."

I clenched my fist. "I'm nothing like my brother. Leave him the Hell out of this!"

Rial glanced around, taking a deep breath.

Jared aimed his gun at me now. "Look, I don't think you know what kind of position you're in." He pointed to the timer, which now had less than ten minutes left. About seven minutes left. "I hold all the cards at the moment."

I… I needed some sort of opening. I shot a quick glance at Rial, who mouthed the words "Keep him distracted."

Keep him distracted? Easier said than done, especially with a gun trained on that he can pull at any second.

…

But, that's fine. If I die, allowing the others to escape. I'm fine with that. I shouldn't have even made it this far. So many more deserving people have fallen. We are so close to the end. "Why… Why did you turn to this? What sick and twisted idea got into your head that this is what it meant to be a hero?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter how I can become a hero, as long as I'm perceived as the good guy, it's fine by me. People kill people all the time, it's all technically wrong, but there's always a good guy. It's a matter of making the other person the bad guy, right? Isn't that how wars are fought?"

Not the answer I was hoping for.

Ashton slammed his fist on his podium. "Who even planted this idea into your head?"

"Society did." He replied. "Same as your brother, Gregory."

I froze up slightly. "I said leave hi-"

He fired his gun, missing me by an inch. "I'm talking." He started to reload. "Please, don't interrupt me." He looked back at me. "Society is flawed. We're just here to fix it."

_We're_. Him and my brother…

"Tell us what the other articles have to do with." Jeremy asked, clutching his shoulder, which was still bleeding a lot. Veronica had ripped part of her hoodie to try and stop the bleeding.

The officer simply smirked. "Cases I was involved in. I was the one who gave the call for Flame-X to be shot. It was fun seeing their blood be sprayed across the wall. The bastards deserved it."

I clenched my fist slightly.

Jeremy smiled sweetly. "You know, now that I got a better grip on you, I can tell that that's a lie."

"W-what?" Jared glanced over at him.

He shrugged. "Just a feeling. Not to mention you just seem to be acting tough. But everything you've built for yourself seems to be crumbling down." Another earthquake happened. "Just like the park." He frowned.

"Society is flawed…" I finally said. "What gives you that idea?"

He looked over at me. "The weak are left behind, while the people in power get to do whatever they want. The rich stand above while the poor try their hardest just to survive. People are abandoned like there's no tomorrow. Isn't that unjust?"

"Unjust…?" I repeated, getting angrier even more. "What's unjust is forcing people completely uninvolved with any of that into a killing game!" I yelled out. "We're just kids, what did we ever do wrong?"

The grin of his grew a little more. "Who said you did anything wrong? I said it before, someone has to play the villain for me. Whether it be an entire Hope's Peak class I labeled as criminals, or Rial, who will die as the mastermind of this whole game."

Rial blinked a few times. "What, what class?"

I glanced over at her. Did she know something about this?

Jared fiddled around with his gun a little. "Does it really matter at this point? Either way, back to the original point." He used his gun to point at all of us. "None of you did anything wrong." He didn't point at Rial, however. "You're just here to send a message to those watching. A martyr, if you will." Jared explained. "Dying for a cause."

I looked down at the ground. "Who'd want to be a martyr for this?" I looked back at him. "No one who died deserved this Hell you put us through!" I was on the verge of tears.

"May I interject?" Jeremy crossed his arms. "You mentioned a group… Just what exactly is this group?"

"Ha, like I'd tell you." Jared smirked. "I don't just go revealing stuff unlike someone else. I'm not like her."

Her? Who was he talking about. So there's more than just him and my brother. A third member who was also a girl? I didn't know who he was talking about. It didn't seem to be any of us. I glanced over at Rial, who still seemed like she was trying to do something. I needed to distract him some more. I glanced back over at Jared. "Is it fun? Playing with people's lives like that."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't say it's fun. You seem to be under the impression I enjoyed all of this. Like I said, you will all be a martyr for the cause. And martyr's mean tragedy."

"What happened to serving the people?" I said. "Aren't you a police officer!?"

He simply laughed at that. "Like the police haven't done terrible stuff already. They hid Nika's cause of death. The police are corrupted, blinded by their own greed. As are most people in today's society." He smirked. "You should know about corruption, aren't you religious?"

I froze up again. He was going to go there, wasn't he? "You leave religion out of this."

"How many have been killed by it? Too many to count?" He asked. "Just look at Rial." He looked at her.

She froze up, stopping what she was doing.

"She's probably just as religious as you, and look where that brought her. To take on God's will as her own, and personally send people to Hell. But, where does that leave her? She probably has a nice place for her waiting down below."

"Take off these handcuffs, and let's settle this now." She said.

He simply laughed at that. "Not happening."

"So…" Jeremy trailed off. "When will you two stop stalling?"

"W-what?" The officer said. "Stalling?"

He nodded. "You're stalling until the timer reaches zero." He glanced over, and yeah, the timer only had about a minute left. He then looked over at me. "And Gregory is stalling so Rial can do something."

"Jeremy, you idiot." Veronica sighed.

Jared quickly turned to look at Rial, aiming his gun at her.

"Well… no time like the present." She said annoyed as she quickly ducked, avoiding the bullet. She started running towards him.

"Monokuma!" He yelled out.

The bear attempted to stop her, but he just collapsed on the ground, as well as the handcuffs.

"W-what?" He said.

Before he even had time to react, Rial had delivered a kick to his face, knocking him onto the ground. Then she placed her foot on his chest, pinning him to the ground. She held out a small remote of sorts. "This, Mason is an angel in devil's clothing."

"That's my…" Veronica started to say.

Rial briefly glanced at her, but didn't comment on anything. She aimed her sniper rifle at him. "Say goodbye." She pressed the trigger but nothing came out. "What…?"

Jared simply smirked. "You think I'd let that be a factor in any of that? Monokuma made sure to rid your gun of ammo, as well as take away any you had." Seems she had been too distracted doing something else to notice.

She simply shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. She lifted her gun up. "I can use the barrel to hit you in the neck. She brought it down, but before it could connect, another earthquake happened, but this one didn't stop. My eyes quickly darted towards the timer, which had now hit zero. This also caused her to lose balance as she fell on the ground.

Jared took this opportunity to get up and aim at Rial. But before he could, a blast hit his hand, causing him to drop his weapon. The shot was fired by Veronica, who had apparently a third gun, because the other two went sliding away.

.

.

.

I quickly got up, after having lost my balance. "Dammit…" My feet wobbled a bit as the building tilted slightly. Then a portion of the wall collapsed, revealing a way out.

"Everyone! This way!" Ashton yelled out, standing by the collapsed wall.

I wasn't quite done yet, but Jeremy and Gregory went over to it. Not like either of them would be of any use in taking out Jared. I glanced at the ground and saw the device slowly slide down the floor as the building tilted even more.

"Dammit…" Veronica said sliding down on the ground, in an effort to catch it. She finally got it, but not before another big rubble happened, which sent her sliding towards one of the windows. "Shit…!" She called out before she crashed out of the window, which just seemed to be high up in the air.

"Veronic-" But before I could even finish her name, a shot fired from a grappling hook came flying into the building. It was nearby so I managed to grab it, wrapping it around my arm.

Soon enough, Veronica climbed back in.

"How many damn gadgets do you have?" I asked.

She opened up her hoodie. Apparently several was the answer as she had them all in special pockets.. And also the answer to why her hoodie was way too big. More storage. She quickly closed her hoodie, zipping it back up. We glanced at Jared, who seemed to finally be getting up. It would probably be best to just leave him to die here. The two of us made it to where the others were. Ashton was still waiting at the collapsed wall, probably wanting us to go in before he went in.

Veronica jumped out of the building, landing on the ground that seemed unaffected by the earthquakes, at least for now.

"Ready to go?" Ashton asked as he stepped out.

I took a deep sigh, turning back to look at how far down Jared still was, when I realized he wasn't far away at all. He went to reach for me before he got punched in the face.

"Stay here and die, asshole!" Ashton yelled out, having delivered the punch.

The officer hit his back against the podium, which seemed very sturdy. I shook my head, turning around. He wasn't going to be a problem anymore. I stepped down on solid ground, taking a deep sigh. Was it over, was all of this finally over. I heard the sound of the trial grounds finally falling. The others were further up ahead, just relieved to still be alive. I smiled slightly, taking a step, but then something grabbed my leg as it dragged me down with them.

"Rial!" Ashton yelled out.

I barely managed to grab onto the cliffside, holding on for dear life. I glanced down to see Jared holding onto my legs. I started trying to kick him in the face, but that wasn't really working. "Get off of me, you bastard!" I yelled out.

"No, I'm not ready to die like this." He said, gripping onto my leg tighter.

Ashton had run over to the cliffside, extending his hand. "Grab on!"

I went to grab his hand, but stopped myself. The cliffside was still damaged, and there was a possibility that the ground wouldn't hold up for much longer. Not just that, but I still had Jared to worry about. What if I couldn't get rid of him, and he managed to throw one of us off the cliff. I glanced down at him, before my eyes drifted off to look at the ground. It… It wasn't that far of a drop. I have a small chance to survive it… so…

I let go.

"Rial!" The racer yelled out.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Jared yelled out. He let go of my feet out of shock.

It all started because of him. Why I fully got into this work. If he hadn't shot up my school, I probably wouldn't have continued killing people. I wouldn't have been assigned to work under the government. All my life… because of him… I kicked the cliffside to turn my body so I was facing him. This all started because of him, and this will end with him. I unclipped my scarf, letting it flutter away in the wind. I took off the shotgun I had hidden. It was the same one Nila took. And, I was going to kill him with it. I didn't want gravity to end this. **I** wanted to end this. "See you in hell, asshole!" I shouted out.

He put his hands out. "Wait a sec-"

He never did get to finish that sentence as I blasted his face off.

That was it. I ended this. I ended this like I said I would. I let go of the shotgun. No need for this now. I turned my body around midair as I kept falling. When you are about to die, time moves rather slow. A million thoughts go through your head. Is this the fate I deserve? After taking away so many lives. Almost every time I took one, I always found it was a wrong choice to do, yet I kept doing it. Did I blind myself, thinking I was doing it right? Did I think my motives were justified? I leaned my head back, I could see the ground coming closer. And, in the distance, I saw something making their way towards me. No… don't save me. I'm the one person who doesn't deserve any saving right now.

And then, the last thing I felt was my arm hit the side of the cliff, with a crack. And then, it all went dark.

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Later on…

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.

A girl with auburn hair was walking around in what looked like a desert location. Seemingly outside where the amusement park was. She had her hair tied in a single ponytail that reached her lower back. She didn't seem too happy about the way things played out. She passed by someone who was just looking at the scenery, hands in his pockets. His hair being moved by the wind. She walked over to someone wearing a white coat. "What's the status of the people still left alive."

The man flipped through his notebook. "Well, out of the five, three seemed to be without injury. Although the girl's arm seems to be a little strained. She said it was probably from stopping her own fall with a grappling hook."

"And what about the other two?" She asked.

He flipped to his next page. "Well, the guy seemed to have been shot once by a sniper rifle, probably fracturing one of his bones. And nearby, another bullet is lodged in. But that one was seemingly only fired by a pistol. As for his head injury, besides what was already there, it seems fine. And…" He flipped to the next page. He stared at it for a few seconds, a small frown appearing on his face.

"And…?" The girl asked.

He let out a sigh. "Thankfully, she was caught before she fell down on the jagged rocks, but she still injured her arm pretty badly. It's bruised up, and might even be broken." He shook his head. "I'll have to personally operate on her…" He went silent for a bit. "To think I'd have to operate twice on her." He shook his head, whatever that meant. "But yeah, that's it, Arianna. I'll be heading back." He said as he walked away.

The girl glanced away. "Whatever… let's just hope this was the last one." She started walking away. "The Ultimate Officer. A weird range of people joined them… First…" She cut herself off seeing the boy she walked passed earlier heading towards the site. "Where are you going, Chase?"

He stopped walking, the wind going through his hair. He slowly turned to look at her, except, all she would see is the metal plate that is now covering his damaged eye. Seems he didn't want to dignify her with an actual glance. "There's something I need." He said ominously before continuing to walk away.


End file.
